Stuck With You
by lovelyambroses
Summary: Nikki Bella's secret marriage was exposed after a simple slip of the tongue; however what she forgot to mention was the present she received nine months after her ex-husband left. Ten years later, Nikki's past is becoming more public and she has to come to terms with her mistakes all while struggling to maintain her strength when the man she used to love comes back into her life.
1. Ten Years Ago

_February 14th, 2005_

 _"I can't do it anymore!" Sweat was dripping down Nikki's body so quickly that not even the small towel her twin sister, Brie was using to dab her face with could control. "Please," she begged, "make it stop." Her voice was getting weaker and her body was exhausted._

 _"Nicole, you can do this. I believe in you," Brie spoke quietly so she wouldn't make Nikki's head ache. She was probably more nervous than her sister in that moment since she could barely feel anything besides pain._

 _The doctor peered over the hospital gown up into Nikki's tired eyes. "Just a few more pushes and your baby will be here."_

 _Nikki waited until the doctor finished counting down from three before curling her head into her chest and pushing as hard as she physically could. She was regretting her decision to go naturally without an epidural with every contraction, but she understood how it was too late to change her mind._

 _"Oh, God it hurts!" Nikki was biting down on her lip to keep from screaming, but that was barely working. "Just cut him out, please!" Less than ten minutes later, Nikki felt her tightest, most painful contraction yet and she pushed her final push._

 _"Meet your baby boy," her doctor proudly announced as he held up the newborn._

 _Although the birthing staff hadn't cleaned him up just yet, Nikki demanded she get to hold the child. The minute he landed in her arms Nikki couldn't help but burst into the happiest tears she'd cried in her life. She was only twenty-one years old and yet she'd met the love of her life: her son._

 _"Oh, Nikki he's gorgeous," Brie cooed. She was in complete awe of her nephew; his eyes, his hair, his tiny fingers and toes...he was so small it was a miracle he could be considered a human being._

 _One of the nurses took the child to get cleaned and swaddled, but as soon as he was put back into his mother's arms Nikki refused to release him. She was so in love._

 _"What's his name?"_

 _Nikki, still looking down at the precious face of her baby boy, thought carefully before answering the nurse. "Leonardo," she whispered. "His name is Leonardo. Leo for short."_

 **July 2015**

"Leonardo Bella, get over here and eat the rest of your dinner, now!"

Nikki placed a fork down next to the full plate on her dining room table and pulled a chair out. She was only home for the weekend and the fact that she had a schedule only made her antsier for every little detail of her day. She needed everything to be perfect for herself and her little boy.

"I told you that I don't like to be called that," the ten-year-old boy complained as he made his way down the stairs and into the dining room. Sitting himself down, he placed a napkin in his lap before dishing out on his plate of spaghetti.

The Latina smiled as she watched her son devour her home-cooked meal. She couldn't help but admire her work: the olive tone to his skin and the light curls in his hair. Besides the shade of his curly locks, the baby blues and the adorable dimples he knew how to rock she could always tell he was her work of art. She created him, not only biologically but into the man he was already shaping up to be.

"That's your name," she retorted. "You can't tell your mother not to call you by your name."

"But all of my friends call me Leo."

Her smile didn't completely disappear, but it did fade. "Well, I called you Leonardo first. Therefore I win by default." Just before he could reply, Nikki's phone began to ring in the other room so she excused herself and went to check it.

Nikki picked her phone up and checked the screen, only to have her friendly smile fade completely away. She took a quick peek into the dining room to find Leonardo continuing his diner, so the woman sneaked across the house into her office where she answered the awaiting call. "What do you want now?"

"I need to talk to you," a raspy voice spoke, "I need to talk to you right now."

"Well, whatever it is it's going to have to wait. I'm in the middle of something."

"It's important."

"Everything is important to you," Nikki sighed, "everything except me."

John rolled over in his bed and rubbed his hung-over eyes. He drank almost two entire bottles of whiskey the night before after having already downed a glass of Nikki's expensive wine that she'd left at his house. "Please, baby. You can just walk out on us."

"You...you're..." Nikki couldn't find the words to say, she was so furious with him. "I can't talk to you right now."

"Baby-"

"Stop calling me," she demanded before hanging up and putting her phone down on her desk. The woman covered her eyes and thought about happier thoughts, ones that didn't involve yelling and screaming and throwing furniture across the room: ones that didn't carry around dead weight.

Much, much happier thoughts.

* * *

"You're back!" A cheerful Paige exclaimed before tossing herself onto Nikki, wrapping her body around the woman. "How was your weekend?"

Laughing, Nikki assisted the raven-haired beauty down and took a step back. "You need to stop jumping on people, girl. My weekend was fine. I got a lot done."

"I heard about you and John," she muttered.

"What about me and John?"

Paige raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms. "How you two broke up. It was all over social media." She waited, but Nikki didn't respond. "You didn't know it had leaked, did you?"

"How much is out there?" Nikki's nerves were leaping all over the place with the image of her young son being bullied at school because the great John Cena didn't want anything to do with him or his mother anymore. "How did anyone even find out?"

"Apparently John got drunk and accidentally phoned a few people in the sobs. He was out of his mind and ended up telling them the whole thing."

"But, how much got leaked?"

Paige shrugged. She didn't know how much actually occurred, but she did know what was being said. "There was an article about how there was a lot of screaming and how there was no proof but a representative of John could confirm that you two were through."

"What are you two talking about?" Eva Marie asked, making sure to adjust her fiery red hair in the process. "Oh, and Nikki I heard about you and John. I'm really sorry that you two couldn't work things out."

Wanting to slap her across the face, Nikki struggled to keep herself from glaring. Who did she think she was, coming around and pretending to care when everyone knew she just wanted to sleep her way to the top despite the fact that she was 'happily' married.

Biting the inside of her cheek, Nikki nodded. "It's great to see you, Eva. How's your husband doing?"

"He's fine," she said simply. She knew what everyone thought about her, and while she couldn't disagree with their assumptions more she never argued with anyone. "So, what went down with John? Are you two going to get back together ever?"

"If it's all the same with you, I don't really want to talk about it."

Surprisingly, they all were able to drop and change the subject without anyone bringing John up again. It lifted Nikki's spirits enough that she was able to think of things other than her ex-boyfriend and how everything ended, but that comfort wouldn't last. A tap on her shoulder was enough to send shivers down her spine without knowing who was behind her.

Nikki turned around and rather than feeling reassured, her nerves tensed.

"Stephanie," she greeted with a nervous sigh.

"You look like you've seen a ghost." Stephanie chuckled at her joke and placed her hand on the back of Nikki's shoulder. "Do you mind stepping into my office for a moment? I promise it won't be too unbearable."

She didn't really want to, but she couldn't deny the boss of her wishes, even if her gleaming smile was less than jovial. Nikki walked with Stephanie until they reached a back room that the people in charge always used for offices when they were away from Headquarters. The room was disturbingly empty and cold, causing small bumps to raise on the woman's skin.

Stephanie motioned for Nikki to sit down on the couch next to the wall, and she did. "May I ask what this is about?"

"Well, I hope that this isn't too personal of a question, but I wanted to make sure that everything was alright. I know you've probably heard a lot of people asking you about what happened with John and all, but because the two of you still work here I have to make it one of my priorities to make sure that you two are on good enough terms to work under the same roof."

It was a mouthful, but Nikki understood each and every word. "I'm - we're - fine. Everything is fine."

"That's wonderful." Stephanie smiled even brighter and cleared her throat before walking over and sitting next to her. "However, that isn't all I need to speak with you about."

Nikki nodded, a lump forming in her throat. "Alright," she spoke softly.

"Last season on Total Divas, you admitted to marrying when you were younger. And, I know that nobody besides your family and your bosses know about your son. What's his name again? I haven't seen him since I was last pregnant, it seems like."

The lump tripled in size. "Leonardo. But, he likes to go by Leo."

"That's a very classic name," Stephanie said. "My daughters have fairly traditional names so it's nice to hear other mothers who felt the same when naming their newborn."

"I'm sorry," Nikki blurted out, "I don't quite know what you're getting at with this."

The older woman nodded and locked her hands together very authoritatively. "I hope that I won't make you uncomfortable by asking this, but the producers of the show were hoping that you would be able to work Leonardo into the show this upcoming season."

The lump was on the brink of exploding. She could barely breathe, her lungs were collapsing. "No," she said defensively.

"No?" Stephanie chuckled in surprise. "Why not?"

"I've worked hard to keep him out of the spotlight I'm always under. I can't go back on my word now."

"This has to be a difficult decision, but the fans would love to see the dynamic of you working and then going home to loving child. That mixed with your dissolving relationship with John and the discussion about Leo's father would truly spike the ratings."

"Leonardo," she retorted, correcting her assumption that just anyone could refer to him as 'Leo'. "Leonardo doesn't know his father and I won't put him through the process of getting to know someone when he's perfectly fine not knowing."

Stephanie reached over and pulled Nikki's hand into hers and held onto it tightly. "I'm not a therapist, but I can promise you that it would be better for him to find out about his father sooner rather than later."

"If you knew who his father was you'd understand my hesitation."

"That may be so, but wouldn't it feel better to get all of that off your chest? And, what better platform than that of your own reality show?"

Technically, it wasn't _her_ reality show. Not even what happened to her was in her control according to Stephanie. She knew that even if she continued to refuse, Stephanie would force her hand and her son would end up becoming a recurring character on the cast. It wasn't fair.

But, she couldn't say no.

* * *

Although Nikki had just gotten back in town for work, she took the first flight out for the night. She wanted to see her son off to bed.

After thanking and dismissing her nanny, Nikki calmly went up to Leonardo's bedroom. The lights were out, but to be sure that he was asleep, she walked around and laid a hand on his cheek. He stirred slightly but remained asleep.

A warm smile filled her cheeks; he was the reason for her happiness.

She thought about how it would affect him, being on Total Divas. He wouldn't have to do much, just simply walk in front of the cameras and act normal, but if anyone asked who his father was she knew he would get suspicious himself. She wasn't sure she could handle the sort of pressure that followed a question like "who is my father?" Especially when she knew the answer.

Nikki wasn't sure what to do. Having only one child and having had him so young, she'd never dealt with a situation such as the one she was dealing with currently. When she found out she was pregnant, people told her that she would regret making the mistake of sleeping with someone before marriage - which, of course, ended up being false - because it never ended positively.

Then, she met Leonardo and realized that those people were wrong. He was positively wonderful.

But, his father on the other hand was another story. They were married for less than two weeks after getting drunk and eloping in Las Vegas. They only knew each other from a run-in at a gas station they'd had a few days before their wedding and after spending a weekend getting wasted in a trashed motel room, she suggested they spend the rest of their lives that way.

It was a happiness she never knew she could have, and never fully experienced again. Two weeks after saying "I do" they realized how big of a mistake they really made. She was twenty, he was nineteen. They were too young. By the time their marriage was annulled, she didn't know she was pregnant. And they never spoke again after they left the courthouse because they never got each other's numbers and nobody really had cellphones at the time.

She knew that telling Leonardo would happen because it was not only the right thing to do but it was the responsible thing to do. He deserved to know the truth, sooner rather than later.

Allowing Leonardo to sleep, Nikki exited the dark room and quietly shut the door behind her. She took her time walking down to her bedroom where she'd left her phone because she knew what she would have to do when she arrived. Nikki closed her door and took a deep breath as she stared at the stained wood. Did she have the strength to do it?

Nikki turned around and changed out of her clothing so that she was wearing pajama pants and a tank top preceding the call she knew she had to make. Picking up her phone from the nightstand, Nikki unlocked it and dialed a number she'd recently learned after pulling a few strings at work. She knew he would be awake. Staying up as late as possible was his forte.

"Hello?"

Listening to the groggy voice on the other end, Nikki's heart began to pound. She was about to back out and hang up when the voice sounded again.

"Who is this?"

Nikki sighed. "Dean? It's Nikki...we have to talk."

* * *

 **Oh...don't get upset with me for having another story up please! I feel like this couple is very odd, but in an intriguing way. I removed "The Way We Were" because it was a very spare of the moment story and I honestly have no interest in continuing with it. I hope nobody is angry...**

 **Should I continue this one? Let me know! :)**


	2. The Elephant in the Room

**A/N: Holy smokes...I owe a HUGE thank you to every single person who read, reviewed, followed and left a favorite on this story because it blew me away! I went through some very personal problems this past week and I honestly thought that I wasn't going to write again but after reading the reviews you all left me made me feel so much better and I couldn't thank you guys enough.**

 **Now enough of the creepy sob story, onto the update! I hope you enjoy & don't forget to leave a review letting me know your thoughts! :)**

* * *

 _June 26th, 2004_

 _Nikki stared at that plastic stick for what seemed like hours before she even realized what that positive sign meant._

 _She couldn't control the tears that welled up in her eyes before slipping out and sliding down her cheeks. That test, although small, hit her with the results as if it were a truck driver slamming into her body. She couldn't possibly be pregnant. She had only been with one man that entire year, and that man was gone. He married her and then left. Two whole weeks of marriage and all that was left was the possibility of a child._

 _Nikki wanted to scream but she couldn't find the air to make her lungs work. All she could do was keep staring at that little plastic stick with that bold positive sign mocking her._

 _How could she possibly be a mother? She lived with divorced parents and witnessed first-hand how difficult it was for her own mother to raise her on her own. And, this was just one child - hopefully._

 _She took a deep breath and finally turned her head. "Okay," she whispered to herself. "I can do this. Of course I can do this. Why wouldn't I do this?" Nikki found her eyes in the mirror and focused on them. "You're fine," she told herself. "You'll be just fine."_

 **July 2015**

When Dean offered to meet her for a drink she almost forgot how he was used to living. She drank expensive, luxurious wine while he could chug a beer without a second thought. While she had her hesitations, she knew what had to be done.

The muggy air was a perfect fit for Nikki's inner thoughts. Of course on the day she would explain herself to her ex-husband had to be the day a storm decided to hit. The universe was definitely not on her side.

As soon as the brunette took her first step into the low-level bar, she could feel the tension in the room rise. People suddenly snapped their necks to see the pretty woman walking into a bar with stilettos and a tight mini-dress. Never before had she felt completely out of place.

It took her barely any time at all to guess where Dean was sitting. On the second day of their marriage he told her that he hated the bar scene but loved to drink, so he would choose a booth in the center of the building and order Buffalo wings and a beer. The crowd would migrate to either the bartender or to the pool table in the back, and no one would bother him.

Smart, but that's all she gave him.

Nikki sat down in the booth and cringed as she heard her skin rub against the seat. Normally, if that noise was made around Leonardo he wouldn't stop laughing. She was missing her little boy's laugh more than anything right then.

Their eyes met for the first time in eleven years, and it was almost impossible not to gasp. They worked for the same company and migrated around the same arenas, but they were always able to keep their distance. They both knew how toxic they were for each other; hell, they made each other crazy enough to get married after less than 72 hours of meeting.

Dean took one last bite of his wings and wiped his mouth, to Nikki's surprise. "You're late," he stated.

His voice sent chills through her body. "I was a little busy." She watched him drink his beer and so she crossed her arms across the table. "How are you?"

"I was doing just fine until I got your call."

Her heart sank. "Then why did you want to meet me? You're clearly moving on so well," she said, gesturing toward the empty plate of wings.

"This?" He pointed at the plate. "It's a delicacy. I try to stay away from them, but you do something to me." Nikki couldn't help but blush, which while Dean found it gorgeous, his words hinted otherwise. "You make me eat myself to death."

She hid her offended feelings. "Are we going to skip around the facts or are we going to discuss the elephant in the room?"

"Phew," he sighed. "I'm glad we're getting this over with - you _have_ gained some weight since the last time I saw you."

"Dean," she began.

"But, I'm sure that it's the new...chest...to blame." He sighed again, this time throwing his hands behind his head and resting. "Glad I got the elephant in the room cleared up. It felt kind of...heavy." He eyed her breasts quickly before looking back into her eyes. "I'm sure you know how that feels."

Nikki rolled her eyes and listened to the man laugh through a devious smirk. "Are you done?"

"With the boob-job jokes? Sure," he let out along with another short lived chuckle. He wanted to talk about the real issue at heart, but he wasn't fully prepared yet. Finding out that he had a son...it was insane. Over the years he'd imagined the day one of the women he slept with would call him in the middle of the night to break the news that she was carrying his child but never once did he picture the call to be coming from his former wife.

The woman sighed and rubbed her forehead just above the eyebrows. "Do you even want to talk about him?"

"Him..."

"Yes," Nikki responded, "him. Leonardo."

"Leonardo." The little boy's name rolled off his tongue in almost a mocking tone; as if he were making fun of the choice. "Long name. Why not just call him Leo?"

"Because that's not the name I gave him."

Dean pursed his lips together in a thin line. He had no room to judge considering he had never met the boy, but he was his father. He couldn't even think about not liking the name his son went by. That thought was dangerous in itself.

He nodded and cleared his throat just loud enough for her to hear. "So, what exactly do you want from me? Money? I mean, I can't say I'm not surprised since you seem to have all the money in the world, but now that your little fling with Cena is over I'm sure his money doesn't do the kid very much good anymore."

"It has nothing to do with money. Stephanie wants me to bring Leonardo onto Total Divas but she also wants me to talk about my ex-husband."

"So, you called me to ask if you could use me by name."

Nikki shrugged and shook her head. "I have a feeling you don't want that."

"Of course I don't want you to use my name. Hell, I don't even want your son to know I exist even if that bitch McMahon wants you to tell him."

"That bitch McMahon signs your paychecks."

"Technically she doesn't, but I'll accept your misconception."

Nikki couldn't continue fighting with him. She couldn't care less that the man was afraid of the world uncovering his dirty little secret, even if that secret is in fact her and her son. They were his past and she understood that he wanted to move forward with his life, but she also was aware that moving forward was much easier said than done. Even though he never met Leonardo.

"I don't have to use your name."

"Then, we're done here."

She shook her head. "You really don't want to meet him, then."

"I thought you didn't want me to," Dean said confused. "It took you ten years to even call me and when you did it was because you wanted to tell me that I had some kid which I assume means that you didn't want us to meet. You just don't want to piss off the company."

"Why would I want to piss them off? They've been riding my ass about my appearance and my relationship with John ever since Brie and I came back, so the last thing I want is for them to find another reason to get rid of me."

Dean sipped his beer before chugging it down and raising a finger slightly to signal for a refill. "Do I look like a father to you?"

She shook her head, confused herself. "What?"

"Do I look like a father to you?" he asked again as the waitress walked by quickly, dropping off another full glass of beer, replacing the empty one whose contents sat in Dean's body.

Nikki bit her tongue. "You're not exactly soccer coach material, but I've seen worse."

"You mean like your dad?"

A familiar feeling rose up in her stomach before strangling her throat until it was dry. "Excuse me?"

"I know he's not the subject here, but I have a feeling that your daddy issues is coming in to play right now."

"My... _daddy issues_...have nothing to do with what's going on right now."

"I'm no therapist," he began.

"You're right, you're not," Nikki interrupted. "You're not a therapist but you seem keen on acting like one for some strange reason I can't figure out. So, for both of our sakes let's talk like you're a therapist and I'm your patient."

Dean raised his eyebrows. "Kinky."

She paused to watch him nonchalantly drink and she scratched the back of her neck before pulling her hair in front of her shoulder. "You left me, Dean. You were there one minute and then gone the next so if you want to know the real reason I have so many...issues...it's not because my father wasn't the best or because Leonardo doesn't have one of his own, but it's because I thought I loved you and then you just left. You got up one day before I woke up and packed your bags. A month later I took a test that told me I was carrying your child and I would be raising him all alone."

Dean, unaware of what to say, opted to say nothing. He wasn't a sentimental person but he did know when he'd taken things too far.

"I'm not asking you why, I'm just giving you my side." She paused again; this time for herself. "So, no. You don't look like a father. Not a good one, not a bad one." Nikki looked up to find Dean simply staring in awe back at her. "You just don't look like a father."

"I'm guessing that you don't want me to meet the kid after all."

Nikki's inner thoughts told her that meeting Leonardo would be unhealthy for not only her emotions, but Dean's already screwed up emotions of his own. She couldn't control what he did, but by the time she'd said everything on her mind she had no strength to give him an answer.

"I don't know," she replied before standing up. "I just don't know. I'll make sure not to mention you on the show, alright?" She walked away, watching her step on the way out of the sketchy bar without giving a single look back at her ex-husband.


	3. I Wander Around

**A/N: I wrote this chapter fairly quickly, but I think it turned out alright. I suppose it will be up to all of you to decide! Thank you for the reviews, they mean a lot!**

 **Enjoy! Let me know your thoughts and if I should continue with this. :)**

* * *

"Dean Ambrose? Really?"

Nikki rested her head in her hand and swirled her glass of wine in circles, making sure not to spill the stain-prone liquid on her expensive white couch. "Spare me the condescending tone, Brianna. I made a mistake but it happened ten years ago, almost eleven, and there's nothing going on between us anymore."

"Is he..." Brie's face contorted into a question mark before she relaxed into a childish smile. "No, Nicole!"

"Is he what? Leonardo's father?"

"I already guessed that," Brie replied before walking over and sitting down next to her twin. "I was going to ask if he was your ex-husband."

When Nikki announced her failed marriage to the world, she forgot that it hadn't exactly been exposed to her family just yet. And, of course, knowing that her sister worked for the same company as not only herself but also her ex-husband, she refused to give away her former husband's identity. She never thought that it was going to be revealed this way with this timing.

Nikki chugged the remaining wine in her glass. "Yes, it is."

Brie remained expressionless for as long as she could control her muscles, but once the information settled into her mind she couldn't help but burst into laughter. This caused her sister to not only turn completely red in the face, but for the veins in her neck to bulge out in discomfort.

"I'm sorry," Brie apologized when she saw the pain on her sister's face although she couldn't control her laughter. "I'm sorry...I just wasn't expecting that. I mean, what are the odds, you know?"

"The odds of what, exactly?"

"The odds that a decade ago you bumped into Dean and ended up marrying him, before breaking up and then working together later on. It's weird at best, but the simple idea of that man being your husband, even if it was for less than a month, is the craziest thing I've heard."

Nikki shook her head and poured herself another full glass. "It was a mistake, alright? I didn't think anything would happen but then it did and it was too late."

"So, then one day you just woke up and realized your mistake?"

"It wasn't that simple," she said with a sigh. How could she describe her thoughts to their specificity? "I...I loved him, I think. I guess I wasn't entirely sure about my feelings for him until he was gone. And, by the time that happened I was pregnant and all alone."

Brie envied her sister; something she would never say aloud. She was supposed to marry the love of her life until she made a stupid little mistake and slept with another man, one that she swore she would never sleep with, and ruined any chance she had of a normal relationship with her fiancé. Her sister, while not currently married, had already established a life that she wanted for herself and it wasn't fair. She yearned for a child, hell multiple children if she had time, but something always stood in her way. Road block after road block jumped in her way and by the time she realized her mistake she couldn't contain her fears of never reaching the sort of life she wanted.

"You were in love with Dean Ambrose?"

"Would you quit saying it like that?" Nikki questioned, feeling mocked. "It was a whole lifetime ago!"

Nodding her head, Brie felt embarrassed but she couldn't refrain from asking. It was a bombshell, finding out that the man her sister was married to was the Lunatic Fringe, himself. "Does Leonardo know who he is?"

"The character Dean Ambrose, yes. He's actually a fan." To Nikki's dismay, of course. "But, the real man, the man behind the mask, not at all."

"Dean doesn't wear a mask," Brie stated in all her innocence.

Nikki rolled her eyes and looked over at her sister. "You're an idiot sometimes, you realize that, right?"

* * *

For some reason, the arena was much colder than she's remembered it being in the past. Everything felt different; everything since she'd told Dean.

Filming season for Total Divas had begun but Nikki barely noticed the cameras anymore. She gotten so used to being followed by a crew that she'd learned just to ignore and go about her regular business. Well, excluding the whole thing about nobody knowing she had a son.

Nikki didn't have a match tonight, but Brie did and per usual she would have to accompany her twin. All she had to do was change into something more ring appropriate and get her hair curled; she would be ready to go.

"I still can't believe you have a son," Natalya muttered. "I've known you for like...eight years? And you didn't tell me about him? How did you keep him away from all of us for this long? Like, is that even possible?"

"It's possible for her," Brie joined in. Her hair and makeup was already done, but she was still adjusting her attire. "I didn't even know she was pregnant until a month before she went into labor."

Nikki sighed. "I didn't know how to tell you guys. It wasn't the easiest thing in the world for me to say."

"Easy enough."

The three girls turned to see Dean Ambrose, in the flesh, walking by. He didn't look them in the eyes, but he did mention his feelings. He wasn't the type to preach his innermost thoughts, but he did know what he wanted. And, for some strange reason all he wanted was to make Nikki's life miserable.

"Dean? What are you doing here?" Natalya walked over and gave him a fairly tight hug. She was always the too-friendly type. "Aren't you like, too big of a superstar to be hanging around the Divas?"

She didn't mean it, and the other girls took offense, but she said it anyways.

"Oh, you know me." He finally eyed over to his ex. "I wander around." Throwing a wink towards the mother of his child, Dean's smirk grew larger. He returned his focus back to Natalya so that nobody suspected anything; he didn't know that Brie already had the inside scoop.

Brie struggled to keep her facial expression from resembling her thoughts; she couldn't always contain her excitement or in this case her squirming. She still wasn't over the idea of Dean and Nikki, and the more she pictured them together the more she wanted to see them.

Dean didn't stay long, simply greeted the girls, making sure to shake Nikki's hand firmly, and got on his way. The woman watched her former lover disappear into the shadows without the slightest final glimpse of his face, which she didn't mind. Maybe it was just the shift in her hormones after her break-up with Dean, or perhaps it was the return of an old flame, but she couldn't shake the idea of being with Dean. If he could distance himself further then it would get easier, she assumed. But, if she knew anything about it him it was that he didn't let things go lightly. If he felt hurt by her revelation then he would be sure to cause her pain in return.

Soaking in the calm atmosphere with relief, Nikki relaxed. Although she had watched him leave before, and had in fact left him at the bar the other day, she found comfort in being away from him. Despite the fact that she once felt pained by his disappearance.

 _May 29th, 2004_

 _Nikki rolled over on the flat motel mattress and sighed when she saw Dean sleeping besides her. Butterflies pooled in her stomach causing her to feel nauseous; he had that effect on her._

 _Every night with him was magical, and everything he did was intriguing - to say the least. He could simply brush his finger across her stomach and send chills down her spine. It was a sensation she'd never felt in her life despite the fact that she'd been with a married man before._

 _Well, a man who wasn't married to her._

 _Her relationships never lasted longer than a few months, but something about Dean and her set her up for forever. She could picture spending the rest of her life with him; that's why she had a plastic ring he won in a slot machine sitting on her left ring finger. She didn't need expensive jewelry to promise her a life that would be everlasting because all she could think about was falling asleep and waking up next to her husband._

 _Dean was her husband._

 _It was beyond strange for her to think, let alone say aloud. Of course, he made her happy and that wasn't something she regretted, but it was still strange to consider the idea that they were actually…married._

 _Stirring slightly in his sleep, Dean's eyes shot open. Nikki wore a small smile and reached over to run the back of her hand against his scruffy cheek._

 _"Good morning," she greeted._

 _Dean cleared his throat but continued staring up at the ceiling. "You hungry?"_

 _She was confused by his response as he seemed distant. They didn't know a whole bunch about one another, but she did know when he was distant. On their first real date, the morning before they eloped, he looked uncomfortable for the remainder of their day together once their date settled. Dean was a quiet man, she was used to it by now. She just wasn't quite used to waking up to a cold shoulder._

 _"A little bit, I think."_

 _"You think?" Dean scoffed. "Let's go get something to eat."_

 _"Can't we just order some pizza or something?"_

 _"If you can find some money in the couch again, then sure."_

 _Nikki sat up. "If we don't have any money then how did you expect to go somewhere and get food?"_

 _"I had an idea," he said slyly. He was still on his back, so he turned onto his side. His wife - he would never get used to thinking those words were terrifying - was sitting up with the bed sheets wrapped around her nude body. His thoughts were racing with images of the night before, how silky smooth her skin felt and how good that skin felt under the rough fingertips on his hands. She was a goddess to him and yet she still refused to acknowledge that title he often gave her._

 _"If your idea includes shoplifting or eating toilet paper then I really don't feel like joining in."_

 _Dean shook his head. "Who the hell eats toilet paper for fun?"_

 _"Well," Nikki began, "it wouldn't be for fun." Money wasn't easy to come by, and that was prevalent in only their second week of marriage. It was the day before their second-week anniversary, in fact._

 _Looking over at her, Dean's eyes trailed down until they met the top line of the bed sheets. "Maybe we don't have to eat...food."_

 _Her smile warmed and she threw her head back with a laugh. "You're insane." Dean attacked her with intimate kisses on her neck that made their way down past the line of the bed sheets, causing her to arch her back. She loved his kisses. They brought the butterflies in the pit of her stomach to a new high and made her facial expression nearly uncontrollable. He made her smile and laugh; she never cried in front of him._

 _The next day, he was gone._

 _And that made her cry._


	4. Parenting Advice

**A/N: A HUGE thank you to everybody who reviewed the previous chapter. I'm getting such a great response to this story that it inspires me to continue writing it! You all are so amazing - it puts a smile on my face every time I see that another person has reviewed, followed or added this story to their list of favorites. It's such an incredible feeling!**

 **Ew, I got all sappy. I find it funny how I always say something cheesy or emotional and then I criticize myself for it. Some things never change, I suppose.**

 **Alright, well enough of me and onto what you all really came here for. Enjoy! Let me know your thoughts! :)**

* * *

"It's no secret, well anymore, that I used to be married to a man when I was twenty years old."

Nikki cleared her throat and repeated the statement because it didn't sound right the first time she said it to the cameras in front of her. How could she announce to the world that she had a son, a son whom she loved and cared for deeply, and never told anyone about it? Especially since she wasn't getting the opportunity to give away the man she used to call her husband's name.

"After my marriage was annulled I found out...that I was pregnant." The words barely passed her lips, they didn't fit. She was supposed to be some super Diva that girls looked up to and exposing any more information about her dirty past felt wrong on numerous levels. As if, by chance, people would no longer look up to her. People would look at her differently for keeping a child a secret. "Nine months later...boom. His name is Leonardo."

"He is going to turn eleven years old soon, which is terrifying. He's amazing, absolutely amazing." _Nothing like his father_. "He loves building things and he's unbelievably smart. I've never met a little boy who knows more about how things are built, and it's kind of intimidating because I know little to nothing about structuring things or how to put things together which most likely means my kid is going to grow up to be a lot smarter than me, but I love him regardless."

A smile spread across her face. "I'm actually relieved to get that off my chest," Nikki stated as she looked past the camera at the director in front of her.

"You're doing great," the man said.

Nikki's smile remained although faded slightly as she awkwardly returned her eyes to the target on the camera lens. "I kept him a secret because I wasn't sure how people would react to hearing that I had a child. My family has always known about him so it isn't like I've kept him hidden in a closet for ten years, but I did it for his own good."

Something in her mind was trying to convince herself that keeping his best interest at heart was what she had done because she was beginning to think otherwise. Could it be possible that his identity was hidden because she was afraid of how it would affect her life? She didn't want to believe so, but there was a crick in her neck that hinted at it.

"He's never met his father." Nikki's smile faded completely. "Leonardo is still young, and I'm sure that one day down the road he will want to meet the man who created him, but that doesn't worry me right now," she lied. It worried the hell out of her. The thought of her son being introduced to Dean was creating knots in her stomach. It took so much energy out of her soul, meeting with him the other day to tell him about Leonardo and she wouldn't be able to handle another encounter.

The fear was sickening.

"Alright," the director nodded and stood up, turning the camera off. "I think that's all we need for this session. We'll contact you when we need you again."

Nikki stood as well and shook her head. "Can't wait," she said with a sigh. It was a lie; she would give anything not to come back and talk about this situation.

It was poisonous.

* * *

Wiping the sweat from her brow, Nikki tried to relax after her match. The adrenaline in her body was still coursing through and causing her nerves to shoot energy through her veins, so she felt as though relaxation would never return.

It wasn't until she saw the bright, cheerful eyes of her little boy that her body calmed.

"You kicked ass out there, mom!"

"Leonardo," Nikki chastised as she looked up to her mother, Kathy, who was responsible for looking after him. "Please tell me he hasn't been swearing around you."

The woman held up her hands in surrender. "Don't look at me! That's the first I've heard a word come from his mouth all night. He was so fixated on that ring, it was insane."

"Looks like we've got a future superstar on our hands." Brie walked up and threw an arm around her sister.

"Auntie Brie!" Leonardo exclaimed before throwing his arms around the woman's waist, pulling her down.

"If it isn't my favorite ten year old," Brie returned the affection and squeezed him snuggly. There was a chance she would never have children of her own, but that realization was bearable in the presence of that child. "I heard you were doing well in school. Tell me that it's not because something bad happened with that girl you've been drooling over."

Leonardo pulled away from his aunt with rosy cheeks and wide eyes. "Brieeeeee," he drew out in embarrassment before hiding his face behind her flannel that was wrapped around her waist.

Nikki's eyebrows shot up. "A girl? This is the first time I'm hearing about a girl." She looked back over to her mother before squatting down to her son and pulling him from behind Brie's flannel. She smiled at him and gently caressed his reddened cheeks. "You better not start falling for those fourth-grade girls just yet, do you hear me? They'll eat your heart right out of your chest."

Tilting his head, Leonardo scoffed. "As if," he retorted.

Sometimes, Nikki wondered if he'd been born in the wrong era. He would never be able to tell a soul where that reference came from or what it did for Nikki's nostalgia, but she was fine with him being a tad _clueless_.

"So," Nikki began as she stood back up, "I trust he actually enjoyed the show and didn't just become mesmerized by the other divas?"

Kathy nodded. "He loved the whole show. As soon as all of his favorites walked down that ramp he squealed so loud that I might have to get a hearing aid."

"Oh, wow. Who are your favorites?" Brie asked, out of innocent aunt inspired curiosity.

"Brie," Nikki warned.

"What - I just want to make sure we're on the list." She smiled, unaware of what Nikki already knew.

Leonardo cleared his throat and scratched his head, making sure not to ruin the neatly combed tresses his grandmother made sure he kept well. "Well," he began, "I don't really have a favorite diva because if I had to choose, I'd choose you and my mom would kill me." Nikki shook her head and bit her tongue at his remarks. "But, if I had to choose my favorite superstars I'd probably go with Seth...or Dean."

Brie's eyebrows casually leaped up as she tried to hide the amusement from her twin. "Seth and Dean...what an odd choice for a ten year old."

"What - did you want me to say John Cena?" He smiled up at his mother and stepped closer to her. "He hurt my mom, so I'm hurting his merchandise profits."

The three women laughed; Nikki especially hard to contain her discomfort. It was moments like that, when her son mentioned his father's name without realizing who he _really_ was, or brought up any of her exes for that matter, that made her nerves stand on their ends. She realized that keeping Dean's true identity a secret would only come back to kick her in her ass, but she couldn't pull herself together long enough to tell him.

Besides, if the kid found out his father was none other than his favorite wrestler then he would never shut up about him.

"Mom," Nikki spoke up once the group had calmed, "could you take Leonardo over to the hotel?"

" _Mom_ ," Leonardo complained.

Nikki gave him one authoritative glance before looking back to her mother. "I have to pack my stuff up and then I'll be right over."

"Sure thing. But, you owe me some cab money."

Nikki nodded and gave her son a quick kiss goodbye before watching them head down the hallway. She couldn't help but smile as she witnessed him high-fiving some of her co-workers as they walked past him. Although his back was to her, she knew that his own smile was radiating for miles.

His happiness was her happiness.

"You're going to have to tell him. You know that, right?"

Turning to her twin, Nikki rolled her eyes. "Please, try and refrain from giving me parenting advice."

Brie shrugged and followed her sister down the other side of the hallway to their dressing room. "I know I have no room to judge, but this has to be like, written in the parenting books or something. You can't withhold the father of your child from your child. Especially now that you work in the same building as him."

Nikki hushed her sister and tugged her arm so they were standing closer. "I want to tell him, I do. It's just not that easy considering everything that's happened, okay? The thought of Dean and Leonardo meeting is killing me."

"He was really that bad of a guy when you two were together?"

"He wasn't abusive, or anything."

"Then, what could be so bad that you're punishing him and your son?"

Once again, Nikki rolled her eyes. "Again with the parenting advice," she said with a slight groan. "You have to stop lecturing me on how to raise my kid."

Brie took a step from her sister's lead and began to throw her clothes into her own suitcase. None of the other divas were already packing up their bags, but since they were the only ones with a child who needs both of them in his life, they were getting a head start.

"I'm not trying to tell you how to raise Leonardo," she defended herself. "I just need to make sure that one day he isn't going to wake up and resent the both of us."

"Why the hell would he resent you?"

"Uh, maybe because I also helped raise him for a good chunk of my life? Maybe because I would change his diapers when you didn't feel like getting your manicure messed up?"

Nikki slid her wrestling shorts down her legs and chucked them into her suitcase. "Low blow, bitch."

Resting a hand on her hip, Brie gave her sister an offended expression. "Are you sure he didn't learn to swear from you?"

Slipping on a pair of white distressed jeans, Nikki shrugged. "Get to the point."

"I don't want Leonardo to hate you and me because we knew this whole time who his father was and never once mentioned it to him."

Nikki folded her arms over her chest that was covered by a black sports bra. "You don't think I've thought about telling him? There have been days where I'm literally on the edge of my seat with the words hanging off my tongue and I can't get them out." She sighed and grabbed one of her t-shirts with her slogan, _fearless Nikki,_ on it and pulled it over her head. "There hasn't been a single day of my life where I haven't looked at that little boy and wanted, more than anything, for him to have a father he could come home from school to."

"Dean can't be that father."

"Which is why telling him would do nothing of value."

Brie sighed and zipped her suitcase up. "Maybe he wouldn't win the award for best dad, but you can't say that Leo would be better off without a father at all."

She attempted to hold back her cringe at the use of her son's nickname and she just barely succeeded. The Divas' Champion flipped her hair over her shoulder and closed her suitcase before pulling up the handle and stepping into her Louis Vuitton's. "Until I can figure out how to tell him, I don't want them to meet, alright?"

"Whatever you say, princess."

Nikki chuckled and stopped walking to stare at her. "You really are a bitch, you know that?"

"Seriously? Quit being a bitch, yourself."

The two sisters giggled as they exited the women's dressing room and headed down the hall toward the exit. Even if Leonardo would benefit more from having a complete family, with two parents and a full house, she could still do an amazing job on her own. She'd been doing her best for the first ten years of her son's life, and she figured that all she needed was to do just as good for eight more and then she could retire from the raising-stage and move on to the having fun-stage where she could sit back and relax as Leonardo found a wife and made his own family.

That's when she could pat herself on the back and take a sigh of relief that she'd survived all those years, just the two of them. She could say that she never needed Dean's help; financially or emotionally. She could take care of her son. She'd been doing it for his whole life.

What's a few more years?

The sisters turned the corner and were already halfway down the hall when Nikki did a casual check around the area. Everything was fine until she looked to her right and saw, down another hallway that branches off from the one she was in, a woman with short blonde hair standing off to the side of a little boy talking to a sweaty superstar.

Nikki's stomach churned and she stopped in her place. Her legs were spaced far enough apart that she remained balanced, but the lack of oxygen making it to her brain caused her to feel unbelievably light-headed.

Her nightmare was standing right in front her.

She couldn't stop what was being set in motion.

There, right before her eyes, was her son looking up at the one man she swore she would keep him away from.

Leonardo was meeting his favorite superstar, Dean Ambrose.


	5. Coincidence

**A/N: Another big thanks to everyone who read and reviewed my previous chapter! You guys rock!**

 **I really appreciate the feedback on the last chapter! I got a lot of great ideas for this and future updates from reading what everyone had to say, so I hope that this doesn't disappoint. Also - if you have any questions about the story, feel free to either ask in a review or send me a message and I'll try to respond with my answer!**

 **Enjoy! Let me know your thoughts! :)**

* * *

 _May 14th, 2004_

 _It was Las Vegas and she was all alone._

 _Nicole sat in the hotel lobby, every-so-often staring out the rotating doors at the visitors who waltzed in. For the most part the tourists were young couples honeymooning or on a cheap vacation away from the city. But, every once in a while it was a family. A real, complete family with children and grandparents._

 _Why a family would choose to vacation in a place as dirty as Las Vegas, it was beyond her. But, every once in a while, there would be a family like that, with suitcases and maps dangling everywhere. The mother's sunglasses would be halfway-on, tangled in her usually-kept hair and the father's tropical shirt would be the only article of clothing that would sadly be untouched by grape juice. The children would be squealing and practically unable to control, and the grandparents would be rolling their eyes and adjusting their watches as they watched their grandchildren be "scolded" for their inappropriate behavior._

 _Nicole, who preferred to go by simply Nikki, would sit there watching people go by, without saying a word. She was supposed to be on a vacation of her own; a last trip before she moved away with her sister to California trip. But, all of her friends were just barely older than her, so they could legally celebrate with martinis and classy wine. Nikki, on the other hand, could sit in the lobby of her hotel, people watching._

 _At least she was enjoying herself._

 _She had been sitting there for an hour when someone sat on the same side of the lobby, two seats down from her. She noticed him, but pretended not to. He was just as gritty as the strip could be, but she didn't get a good enough look at him to be sure of his appearance._

 _In fact, she continued to ignore him as he cleared his throat for the third time._

 _"You know," the man said as he cleared his throat for a fourth and final time, "a polite person would just acknowledge the man clearing his throat and put him out of his misery already."_

 _Nikki finally looked over at the man and tried not to appear too stunned by his gorgeous eyes. "I'm sorry, can I help you?"_

 _"Hell, yes, you can." The man got up from his seat and moved to the couch she was sitting at. "You've been sitting here for about an hour, and it took me about that long to come over here and meet you."_

 _"Well, nobody said you had to."_

 _Tilting his head, he shot his piercing, baby blue eyes at her. "The sexual tension between us was clear."_

 _Nikki chuckled and her head fell back in amusement. "Sexual tension...that's a good one. I have to give it to you, you're very persistent."_

 _"You have no idea."_

 _Biting her tongue, Nikki looked back at him and stuck out her hand just far enough for him to shake it. "I'm Nicole. But, I'd prefer it if you'd call me Nikki."_

 _He smiled and gently took a hold of her soft hand. "I'm Dean." His smile faded into a look that she couldn't quite make out. "And, your day just got a hell of a lot more interesting."_

 **July 2015**

Her eyes had to be wrong.

She wasn't ready for this just yet; she needed more time. More time to plan what she would say. More time to work out the kinks and figure out how she would break the news. More time to prepare herself for what could be the possible outcomes.

She needed so much more time.

"Mom!"

Nikki looked up from the ground, which she hadn't realized she'd been staring at, when she heard Leonardo call for her. As soon as she saw his striking blue eyes, her heart melted and she remembered what she'd fought so hard to protect.

"Hey, baby," she spoke as she draped her arm down onto the boy's shoulder. Looking up at her mother, who still didn't understand the truth behind her son's genetics, stood dumbfounded. "I thought you were taking him back to the hotel."

"I was," she defended. "But, then he saw so many different people that he needed to meet. Like, Dean." Nikki's eyes trailed the floor and up the man's body until their eyes were exchanging nervous looks. "We were about to leave, I promise."

Clearing her throat in almost the same fashion as a man she once loved had, many years ago, Nikki shook her head. "It's fine. I just want him to get enough sleep for his plane ride home tomorrow."

"I'll take him," Brie offered. She stepped forward and grabbed Leonardo's hand, dragging him away.

The little boy turned and waved back at Dean, with a confused but satisfied face. "Bye, Dean."

"Bye, kiddo." Dean waved back and tried not feel something in the pit of his stomach. He didn't want to feel the urge to scream any longer, because he simply didn't want to scream. Leonardo might be his son biologically, but there was no attachment.

So, why did it hurt to watch him walk away?

Nikki turned and watched her son leave with his aunt and grandmother before taking a deep breath. She knew she needed to talk to Dean...she just wasn't quite ready.

"You didn't tell me he'd be at the show tonight."

Nikki spun on her toes slowly and looked at him with sadness in her eyes. "I didn't think it would matter. He's my son."

"I didn't know that when he came up to me. I've never met your mother before, either."

"Well, congrats. Now you have." She gripped the handle on her suitcase tightly and started to walk away, when his voice caught her attention.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" He paused and waited for her to turn around, but she didn't. "About Leonardo," he finished.

Her heart broke a bit in her chest, but she wasn't sure why. She relinquished some strength and turned around, facing him again. "Don't try and play the sincerity game on me now, okay? It's been a long day-"

"I'm not trying to weasel my way back into his life."

"Back? You were never in it to begin with," she retorted.

Her words were like a slap to his tired face. "Nikki," he tried to reason with her.

"I don't need an explanation as to why you felt justified in talking to my son."

"I didn't know who he was, Nicole. _He_ came up to _me._ Not vice versa."

"I've never seen you that close with a kid before."

He crossed his arms. "You've ignored me ever since you found out we worked for the same damn company. These last few days have been the most I've seen or heard from you in ten years."

They were still standing a mere six feet away from one another, but it felt like miles were standing in between them. Miles that were filled with memories that all sprung from two weeks of honeymoon bliss and heartbreak. Memories that were both amicable and one-sided in their own rights. Even the happy ones were painful to recall.

The longer they stood there, the denser the miles between them became.

"Just...if you see him around here, don't approach him."

Dean shook his head. "He's my son, Nikki."

"That didn't seem to bother you when I called," she returned.

"That's because I didn't have his face stuck in my head." Dean sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, trying not to have a heart attack in the middle of a hallway that was being rented by the company he worked for, in which prided itself on the health of its employees. Heart attacks would be bad for business. "I didn't know that it would feel like this."

Nikki's mind was full of things she wanted to say and knew she couldn't. She wasn't sure what she could offer him to make him stay away from her and her son, but she knew that she needed to try something.

Something had to work.

"I would say that I'm sorry, but I'm not." She looked at him, staring into the depth of his eyes. "I'm not the one who should be sorry."

She turned back and walked away from him, afraid that any more words exchanged would cause enough damage to warrant a third world war. And, she knew that it would be her son that would get caught in the crossfires.

* * *

"I would literally _kill_ to have your abs."

Nikki chuckled and did one final crunch before rolling over to her side and standing up. "You wouldn't believe the number of people who don't even see the abs. All they see is the excess baby fat."

"You mean, the excess baby fat from the baby you had that nobody even suspected existed?" Paige, who had her own, young body to take care of, shook her head. "How does that even work? You have a baby and just don't tell anyone? Doesn't the little rug rat get tired of being stuck in a room, not being able to tell anyone who is mom is?"

"People know who I am."

" _Now_ they do. Now the whole world does. I meant like, before you announced it. How did it work?"

Nikki shrugged and took a sip from her water bottle. "At first nobody knew who I was, so nobody really cared. But, once I became successful I wanted to protect him from all the spotlight so I hired a really good nanny or sent him to my mom's."

The former Divas' champion laughed in shock as she pulled her raven-dark hair from a holder and allowed her locks to cascade across her pale shoulders. "I wouldn't have been able to keep it a secret, at least for ten years. I mean, come on, that's insanity."

"It was all I knew I could do to protect him."

"Hiring a damn bodyguard didn't cross your mind?"

Nikki giggled and shook her head. "It was never about his physical well-being as much as his mental health. I was afraid of what being shoved into the attention of the world unwillingly would do to his brain."

"Afraid that flashing lights would cause seizures?"

"You're impossible to talk to!" Nikki laughed again before stepping onto a treadmill and turning the speed to a light jog. Paige followed suit and stepped onto the machine next to her. "I didn't want my son to be objected to the same scrutiny that I get on a daily basis."

"So, what changed your mind?" Paige cranked the speed up on her machine and focused on maintaining her breathing.

Nikki knew the right answer. Stephanie forced her to reveal her secret to the world, and she obliged. However, Nikki also knew the answer that wouldn't get her in trouble.

"I was tired of living a lie."

* * *

Dean rolled over, side to side, over and over again. He usually slept just fine once he'd made it into the comfort of his hotel rooms, no matter what city or country he found himself. But, ever since he laid eyes on who he hadn't realized was his son...things were different.

At first, he recognized the boy when he rested his eyes on him, but with all the children that ask for his autographs or pictures, he couldn't be sure. There was a slight twinkle in his bright blue eyes that seemed familiar. His smile was so contagious that Dean couldn't help but return the gesture at the mere thought of...his son.

When Nikki told him that she'd given birth to his son, his first thought was that he would have to start spending thousands of dollars in child support in order to make up for lost time. But, when she explained that it was due to her overwhelming need to please the company she strived so hard to find acceptance from, the nervous front he'd subconsciously put up was brought down.

Nikki didn't even want him to play the part of Leonardo's father. She just wanted him to know. She did him a favor.

If she hadn't given him the heads-up about his offspring, he would have probably overheard about her hidden child through local gossip. Then, he would have wondered for months about whether Leonardo was his son or not, in which case he would probably lose his mind.

Dean sighed and threw his hands above his head, resting the backs of them on his forehead. He wasn't fit to be a father and it was something he was very much aware of, but he didn't appreciate how obvious his ex-wife made it.

"Hey, babe."

Looking over to his side, Dean smiled quickly before it faded. "Good morning."

Renee smiled and walked over to her boyfriend of two years, placing a soft kiss on his lips. "I got you some coffee," she said as she handed him a warm cup. "You wouldn't believe how many people were waiting outside the hotel. I've never seen so many spectators just...waiting."

"Waiting for what?" Dean asked as he sat up and took a sip of the hot liquid.

The blonde shook her head and sat down on the end of the bed. "They were all just sitting there in their wrestling t-shirts with their phones out, waiting for something. Some of them took pictures of me but for the most part they just continued to stare at the hotel doors, watching the people that came in and out."

Dean's mind suddenly had a flashback to the warm day in May where he stumbled upon a beautiful brunette watching people walk in and out of the hotel doors of a Las Vegas inn. He couldn't remember what fully prompted him to approach her, but he remembered sitting near her and just staring at her. And eventually, once he couldn't stand the awkward silence between them, he started to reach for her attention.

"Do you think the people were waiting for one of us?"

Renee shrugged. "I wouldn't place money on it, considering how only like, three of them lifted a finger to snap a picture of me." She paused to drink some more coffee, feeding her caffeine addiction. "I mean, I guess they could be waiting to see Nikki and her son."

With wide eyes, Dean looked up from his cup and tried not to appear too concerned. "When did that become public?"

"When the teaser for Total Divas' came out two days ago."

He nodded and reached across, placing the cup on the nightstand. "So, they're lined up to see the kid."

"It's crazy, you know? I mean, this is a woman who has made her quest to get married and have children so apparent on that show and then one day she just decides to announce to the entire world that, surprise, she already has a kid from a previous marriage." Renee laughed mockingly and shook her head. "If she wasn't such a sweet person I'd be saying a something much more demeaning."

Dean watched as the woman walked back to her purse and shuffled through some of her belongings. He loved Renee, deeply, but he knew how stressful her life had become ever since making her relationship with him public.

He also knew that telling her the truth about Nikki's secret marriage and Leonardo's father would be detrimental to their relationship. And, quite possibly, her sanity.

"I'm going to pack up my stuff before we drive out to Orlando tonight. Do you think you can have your things ready to go by the time we get back from the show?"

"I'll just bring it all with me."

"Okay, great." Renee smiled and gave the man one last peck on the lips. "And, remind me to send Nikki some flowers or something."

Confusion caused the man to shake his head. "Why would you do that?"

Renee shrugged and tossed her purse over her shoulder. "She announced her kid to the world. I figured the least I could do was give her a gift."

"It's not like she just went into labor or something. Renee, you don't have to send her anything. She's a lying bitch who hid her only son from the world for a decade. I bet she isn't even letting him meet his father."

"Dean," she scolded with a relaxed smirk. "I'm sure Nikki had her reasons for doing what she did. Besides, I doubt she would hide her son from his father. After all, who would take care of the kid while she's touring the planet?" Shaking her head, Renee grabbed her suitcase and headed toward the door. With a smile planted on her cheeks, she turned around to say goodbye. "Have you ever thought about having kids?"

Dean's heart began to race. "Kids?"

"Don't answer that," she retracted with a look of embarrassment apparent on her face. "This whole thing with Nikki has just got me thinking. If she can raise a kid without ever bringing him into her spotlight, especially since she was alone, there's no way we wouldn't be able to do the same together - right?"

Dean nodded reluctantly and watched the blonde leave the room. Kids? Was the woman crazy, herself?

The idle picture of Dean walking around a house with teething toys or changing diapers was insanity alone. Surprisingly, the image did allow him a quick shot of relief; even if he did somehow push Nikki's protective wall around Leonardo down and was able to begin a real father-son bond with him, he would never have to worry about all the major responsibilities of a first time dad. He wouldn't have to remember how to prepare a bottle or learn to swaddle a newborn because the kid practically already has one foot out the door.

He couldn't start a family with Renee...it would be too weird. Dean being a father would be too weird.

Resting his head back against the firm pillows, Dean sighed. His thoughts were all jumbled together.

How could he raise a kid when he couldn't even form a single solitary thought?


	6. Fearless Nikki

Nikki looked over at her son as he carelessly tossed his clothing into his suitcase, not minding to the wrinkles that would soon form on the cloth.

"Leonardo," Nikki scolded. "You can't just throw a bag together. Your clothes are going to get wrinkled."

The little boy rolled his eyes, so Nikki chucked a pillow playfully at him. "Ouch," he teased. "That hurt."

"Learn to pack a suitcase like a gentleman and I won't have to negatively reinforce you," she responded with a shy smile. She walked over and picked the pillow off the floor and returned to packing her own bag. Ever so cautiously, she would glance over at him to find him slowly pulling each article of clothing out of his bag, folding it, and placing it back. Another smile, one much brighter, crept onto her cheeks.

"Last night was really cool," Leonardo said.

Nikki looked up proudly. "Oh yeah? What was your favorite part?"

"Not your match, that's for sure."

"Hey," Nikki said with a slight chuckle. "Not fair! I'm your mother, you loser."

"Which is why you can't be my favorite. I have to be impartial," he explained. Nikki shook her head. His vocabulary matched his wisdom; well beyond his years.

Relaxing from her task, Nikki sat down on the edge of her bed. "Well, if I wasn't the best part of the show then what was?"

Leonardo placed one of his freshly folded shirts into his suitcase before shrugging. "I'm going to go with meeting Dean Ambrose."

Nikki's smile dropped faster than a cheetah could dodge a bullet train. She condemned herself for not realizing sooner that his answer would be what it was. Of course his favorite moment of watching the show live was getting to meet his favorite wrestler backstage. If only he knew the much deeper connection he had to Dean...then perhaps he wouldn't always be the one without an explanation as to why his favorite superstar is the utter opposite of John Cena, whom all of his friends were loyal to.

"He's so cool, Mom. I can't wait to tell all of my friends about it when I get home. Plus, Nina is going to be super excited too."

The brunette nodded and cleared her throat to surpass the sudden lump. "Remind me to send her a check this weekend."

"She's an awesome nanny, Mom. I'm glad we found her. She's the only person I've ever met who thinks Dean is just as cool as Cena." His smile was so bright despite the thin gap between his two front teeth. He'd been threatened with braces in the previous weeks leading up to his little vacation to watch his mom, but they hadn't found the time to take him in and get it done.

"I'm sure she's great, Leonardo. Finish packing while I use the restroom," she ordered before slipping away into the bathroom. She was so tired of feeling overwhelmed at the sound of that man's name. All she wanted was to rip her expensive hair extensions right from her scalp just to mask the discomfort she felt from her entire situation.

She wanted to be angry, but she wasn't sure who to direct it at. Stephanie just wants more publicity for the company and the world just wants to see something dramatic unfold on their television screen. She couldn't necessarily blame Dean for being polite to a fan, even if that fan was his own flesh and blood whom he'd never laid eyes on.

After all, if she really had a problem working in the same building as Dean, she could have left years ago when she found out he had signed to the WWE.

 _April 18th, 2011_

 _"Congratulations Brie!"_

 _It was the hundredth time - no, the thousandth time - someone had uttered those two words. Of course, nobody could quite grasp the difference between the two twins, so on occasion Nikki would be the one receiving the shower of glory that followed becoming the WWE Divas Champion._

 _Brie, who had won the title exactly one week prior, was being thrown a celebratory dinner in honor of her achievement. Their friends Kelly, Eve, Alicia and Nattie had all planned a small gathering at an expensive restaurant despite Brie's pleas to keep things simple, which Nikki didn't mind. Her sister was always the one to refuse elegance._

 _Nikki sat beside her successful sister and patiently awaited the chance to return back to her hotel room so she could call her mother and check in on her little boy. She couldn't tell anybody her reasoning for revolting against a late night, but that didn't stop her from refusing to stay past midnight._

 _"Alright, alright. I think we've talked enough about wrestling for one night," Alicia pointed out. "Why don't we talk about something a tad more...pressing?"_

 _"If by pressing you mean that hunk of a man who just joined the developmental territory, I'm all for it."_

 _Brie rolled her eyes at Kelly's comment and snickered quietly. "Don't you have a boyfriend?"_

 _The blonde's smile faded and her striking blue eyes widened. "Justin doesn't need to know we're having this conversation, deal?"_

 _"Deal!" the girls all squealed in unison._

 _"No," Kelly began, "I mean this guy's not the most attractive person I've seen."_

 _"But he's definitely not sore on the eyes," Eve added._

 _The girls laughed as Nikki sat clueless. Her sister and she had been so focused on winning the title and becoming the head of the division that they'd been completely out of touch with the locker room gossip._

 _"What's his name?" Nikki asked before sipping from her fruity drink._

 _Nattie looked up from her phone, having just researched his name. Sometimes the girls became complete airheads after a night out on the town and forgot how to act like mature adults, so Nattie always had to step up. "Dean Ambrose."_

 _It was in that very moment that all the panic in the world was placed in Nikki's body. She had never felt so concerned for her sanity than when she heard that man's name come from her friend's mouth. A friend who didn't know who he really was._

 _"What was that?" Nikki asked, hoping that she'd heard wrong through her paranoid ears._

 _"Dean Ambrose," Nattie restated, this time holding up her phone which displayed a photo with decent quality of the new WWE superstar. "They announced his signing on the 4th, right after WrestleMania."_

 _Nikki's throat closed shut as she stared at the picture of Dean, shirtless with sweat dripping down his chest. It appears as though he'd just won a match as he paraded around the ring. She'd almost forgotten that face, despite how closely it resembled Leonardo's._

 _"Can I see that?" Brie asked nosily, pulling the phone from her friend's hand. She scrunched her nose as she squinted at the picture, recognizing him from somewhere. "I feel like I've seen him before," she muttered._

 _"He's a great wrestler." Eve spoke a lot about people's attributes rather than their looks. She was so down-to-earth that it sometimes sickened Nikki, but she couldn't help but love the woman. "I've seen some of his matches online, just out of curiosity. Maybe that's where you've seen him."_

 _"What about his character? Does anybody know how he acts?" Alicia questioned._

 _"Looks like an asshole to me," Nikki murmured._

 _The table full of girls looked up from either the photo or their meals to glance at the outspoken twin. Her cheeks flushed and she sank into her seat. Hopefully they wouldn't keep her around much longer after that._

 **Present Day**

Nikki sighed and raked a hand through her clean hair, pulling it out of her face so she could breathe. She wasn't sure how she truly felt; confusion was all she could see through the foggy misunderstood emotions.

In her heart, she knew that if she were in Dean's position, she would want to meet her son. Of course if she were in Dean's position she would have stayed longer than two weeks and made sure not to screw other people's lives up so royally. Then again, there was no possible way for her to know what Dean wanted. He was mysterious and shady. Two characteristics that make realization very difficult for someone who struggles to understand her own wants and needs.

She was afraid, more than anything, of what telling Leonardo would do to his psyche. If he found out that his father is none other than Dean Ambrose, a man who has built a name for himself in the wrestling business so high that birds have to fly around it, what would he think? That his father was too good to stay around so he had to entertain himself some other way? She refused to let Leonardo believe that he is anything but extraordinary.

She just wasn't sure if telling him about his father would make him question that.

Looking into the bathroom mirror, Nikki thought of numerous outcomes to her coming clean. Dean could refuse and pretend that Leonardo isn't his. He could continue on with his life, dating Renee Young and ignoring parental responsibility. Or he could become so involved with her son's life that he tries to join hers as well.

Wedding bells were far from the brunette's future, but she definitely wanted a better life for her son than hiding and wondering where he came from. The agony of not knowing exactly what she should do haunted the woman as she tapped her manicured nails against the bathroom countertop.

"Mom? Are you alright? You've been in there for a while. Do I need to call Grandma?"

Nikki shook her head before realizing that her son couldn't see her from behind the locked door. "I'm alright, Kiddo." Biting her tongue, Nikki remembered Dean giving him the same nickname the night before. "Just give me a second."

She heard his footsteps become distant before the sound of a zipper zipping from the other room. How could she make this decision alone?

With another sigh to stabilize her breathing, Nikki swung the door open. To her surprise, Leonardo had returned to the small hallway and was standing in front of her with his suitcase in hand.

"Are we going to leave now?" Leonardo asked.

Nikki shook her head and bent over, resting her hands on her knees. "I have to go see someone before we go, is that alright?"

"Mom," he whined.

"I won't be too long, I promise. I'll be back before you even notice I was gone."

"How can I not notice you're gone if you're telling me that you're going somewhere?"

The woman refrained from rolling her eyes - a tip she'd read in some parenting book where it stated that rolling eyes at a child could not only teach them improper etiquette, but also give that child a sense of instability in their relationship with their parent.

All crap, but she still paid attention.

"Just...go watch some cartoons or something. I'll have my phone and you can use the hotel's to call me if you need me. You still have my number memorized, right?"

"I wouldn't need it to be in my head all the time if you'd buy me a phone." Leonardo arched his eyebrows and gave her a hinting look, but she wasn't fazed.

"Nice try." Nikki patted her son on his head before exiting the room and blowing him a kiss as the door closed behind her.

Turning on her heels once the door was shut, Nikki began to walk down the hallway to the elevators. She needed to move quickly if she was going to make it to her destination before her mind changed.

Nobody ever expected her to be a wonderful mother, let alone a wonderful _single_ mother. The idea was crazy on its own and combined with the fact that her ex-husband was sleeping in a hotel room two floors above her and had little to know idea of how to be a parent himself was excruciatingly painful to comprehend.

It was a good thing that the cameras hadn't begun filming yet or she would have been screwed.

Nikki reached the elevators in record time. Pushing her finger against the 'up' button repeatedly was the only way she could distract herself from thinking about the conversation she was about to have.

She was brave. Fearless, even. It was written on every t-shirt she sold and all over her Instagram and Twitter pages. People knew and respected her because she refused to give up and always had another way of getting things done. In this case, people would remember her for waiting ten years to come to terms with her messed up relationship with her baby's father and making an unconventional case of single parenting into a fortune though reality television.

Yeah...people would respect her.

Once the elevator door slid open, Nikki got on and rode it up the two stories until she was on Dean's floor. She'd checked his hotel room by simply asking Renee the night before which room she was staying in and did the math. If Renee and Dean were in a committed relationship than odds were that they were sharing hotel rooms on the road. At least, this is what Nikki planned for.

The hallway to Dean's room was long, but she remained determined. She would be able to do this just as she was able to defend her championship night after night, whenever the company needed her to. It would be a piece of cake. Ask the man to be a part of his son's life or just for some permission to tell Leonardo the truth about his genetics and then return to her room, pick up her son and her mother and then take them to the airport.

Simple. Hopefully.

Raising her fist in the air, Nikki took a deep breath. How was knocking on the door so much harder than coming up two floors to speak to a man she could have called on the phone?

"You can do this," Nikki murmured under her breath before taking one last sigh for confidence. Bringing her fist back, Nikki lunged forward to knock just as the door swung open and Dean Ambrose stood wearing his famous leather jacket and boot cut blue jeans.

"Can I help you?"

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Another day, another update. Thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed, and please don't forget to leave a review! :)


	7. There's No Going Back

**Author's note:** Just to keep things clear, this chapter and the previous chapter are taking place the day after Dean met Leonardo. I hope that cleared up any confusion as to the timing of everything...also! Please check out my recently completed story, Drift. The main couple (if you haven't read or heard about this story) is Saige (Seth/Paige) with a Dean/Emma secondary storyline. I'm considering writing a sequel or spin-off but I need some feedback on it letting me know first!

Thank you for reading and reviewing! Please let me know what you liked or didn't like about this chapter and what you think should/could happen next!

Enjoy! :)

* * *

"I have to say, I'm a bit surprised that you're here. The last time we were in the same hotel room-"

"We were married, I remember."

Dean groomed his chin before clearing his throat. "If you're looking for Renee you've missed her. Oh, and in case you were wondering she's going to be sending you some sort of congratulatory gift."

Nikki's eyebrows arched as she crossed her arms. "A gift? What for?"

"For announcing your motherhood," he said with hesitation. It still scared the crap out of him.

The brunette sighed and shook her head. How could she be standing there, trying to be calm when she wasn't sure whether the anxiety in her gut was telling her to punch him or kiss him? It wasn't like kissing him ever crossed her mind, however. Unless it did...only at night, late at night, when she reminisced on her marriage. Former marriage, that is.

Her mind was so cluttered.

"Tell her that she doesn't have to send me anything," Nikki replied. "I didn't do this for publicity."

"Well, if we're being completely honest it's exactly why you did this."

She didn't refrain from exposing the look of offense to her ex. "Stephanie is the one who wanted me to tell the truth. I was perfectly fine keeping things under wraps."

"Is this why you came here? To repeat to me how much you regret telling me about the kid? Or, maybe it's to justify yourself to me again, which we both know you don't have to do because no amount of justification can really explain why you kept my own damn son from me for the past ten years." He paused to take a breath, shocked that he went as far as to say those words.

He hadn't even realized he was insulted by her lack of sharing.

"Really?" Nikki scoffed. "You're going to try and convince me that you actually care enough about _my_ son to want to be a part of his life now?"

"I would have done it sooner had I known there was a son that I needed to take care of," he explained.

"I never asked you to take care of us," she retorted. "I only came here because I felt like I needed your permission to tell Leonardo about you."

His heart stopped and he couldn't move. What was this feeling growing inside him? It was brand new - discomfort? Perhaps it was all bottled up panic...or just a bad breakfast? All he knew was as soon as the thought of Nikki actually telling Leonardo about their relationship hit his mind, his stomach churned.

"You want to tell Leonardo about me?"

Nikki shrugged. She still wasn't sure if this was the right decision, but she was making it regardless. "If it's something you're okay with."

Meeting Leonardo...for _real_. Meeting him and knowing him to be his son, and his son knowing his father...it didn't seem possible. Dean still couldn't quite grasp the concept of being a father, so what if when it came time for him to actually play the role he found he was inept? And he knew what Nikki thought of him. She probably still pictured him as the gauche eighteen-year-old who ran out on their commitment and filed for an annulment as quickly as he could. What if she spoke poorly of him to Leonardo and caused him to think of Dean as an asshole undeserving of love?

"I don't know what to say," Dean spit out. Collapsing down into a chair, he rested his hands on the table in front of him. "I mean, if it's what you think is right then I guess you should do it."

 _But I don't know if it is right,_ Nikki thought.

"Okay, then." Nikki nodded her head and began walking back toward the door. "I'm going to go back down to my room and get Leonardo and take him to the airport. I'll tell him as soon as I return home on Sunday."

Watching her walk away made him suddenly remember the other woman who walked out that door earlier that morning, confirming the unsettling in his body to be panic.

"Wait," he said, stopping her from leaving. She turned around and Dean saw her for who she really was. He'd almost lost sight of the woman she was when they first met - the bubbly yet surprisingly shy twenty-year-old who's goal in life was to be successful at something. She was incredibly vulnerable and he could see that. It gave him a strange feeling in his chest. He just couldn't give the feeling a name. "What about Renee?"

Nikki raked a hand through her highlighted tresses and released a stressful sigh. "I didn't think about her," she replied. "Do you want her to know about him?"

"She doesn't know that we knew each other before working here. Hell, she probably doesn't even know that we know each other at all."

"So, you want to keep this from her too?" Nikki asked, making her own assumptions. He was good at keeping secrets; what was one more?

Shaking his head, Dean stretched his brain for a plan. He didn't want to lie to Renee any more than he already had but he also wasn't ready to tell her the truth. As long as he maintained the distance between her and his son, he could keep both.

If he played his cards right.

"I'll wait on telling her until I can figure everything out," he decided.

Nikki nodded and opened the door, making sure to turn back to him before leaving. "Once I tell him on Sunday, there's no going back. He's going to want to see you again," she warned.

He would never be ready to become a father. He wasn't ready when Nikki told him, and he sure wasn't ready if it had technically happened a decade before. There was just no telling whether things would go smoother this time around.

"I understand," he replied, unaware that it was a lie.

How could anybody understand what he was getting himself into?

* * *

Sunday came and Nikki arrived at her house in Florida. The entire plane ride to her house was terrifying and it wasn't because she still wasn't used to aviation, but because she knew that the second she opened her mouth and told Leonardo the truth, nothing would ever be the same.

"Mom!" Leonardo shouted as he ran to the front door, throwing his arms around the brunette's neck when she bent over to hug him.

"Hey, buddy," she muttered into the curls of hair that were growing far too out of control. "I've missed you."

"It's only been like...five days." Leonardo pulled away from his mom and grabbed her bag. "Nina just finished making dinner so I'll take your bags to your room." He didn't wait for his mother to refuse his help and began to drag the expensive suitcase across the marble floors.

Nikki smiled as she watched her son walk away before making her way to the kitchen where she found Nina hovering over the stove. "No need to be worried, Nina. I'm sure whatever you're making is going to be fine."

"Miss. Nikki," Nina said in her thick Hispanic accent. "It's so wonderful that you're here!" The woman paused from her duties to give her boss a quick hug.

"How has he been?"

"Oh, he's been simply perfect," Nina cooed. "He still does his reading before bed even though school is out. Plus, he eats all of his meals because he says he wants to grow big and strong just like his wrestlers."

Nikki giggled and walked over to her counter where she planted herself upon a stool. "He's becoming quite the fanatic, I see."

"It's adorable. It reminds me so much of my nephew Eduardo after he graduated from middle school and decided that he was going to become an astronaut. Of course, his mother did not agree with those ambitions because she was scared of his spaceship exploding or him getting stuck on the moon," the woman said with a chuckle as she stirred her sauce. "Leonardo would make a wonderful wrestler, I believe. It's in his blood."

Returning the smile Nina gave as she glanced her way, Nikki nodded. If only the woman knew _how much_ it was actually in his blood.

"Well, as long as he stays focused in school he can do whatever he wants," Nikki replied before standing back up when she saw her son enter the kitchen. "Hey, buddy. Do you think we can talk for a second while Nina finishes dinner?"

Nina gave the young boy a nod, gesturing to him that she wouldn't be done for a while, giving him plenty of time to talk. "Sure." Picking up his feet as he led his mother to her bedroom down the hall, Leonardo remained silent. He feared for the worst. The last time his mother asked to speak with him privately she yelled at him for not cleaning his room.

"Alright," Nikki said in an airy voice as she closed the door. As soon as she turned back to face him she could tell he was nervous. "Are you okay?"

Leonardo bit his bottom lip and sat down on her bed. "Are you mad at me?"

Confused, Nikki crossed her arms. "Is there a reason I should be mad at you?"

"No!" Leonardo shouted, a bit too loud before calming. "No," he repeated softer. "What do you want to tell me?"

The woman walked over and pulled her hair out of her face. "So...you might have noticed that our family is a little different than that of your friends' families." Leonardo didn't respond; he really never took that much time to notice other people's families. "Have you ever wondered about your father?"

The boy shrugged his shoulders. "When John was here I would."

The mention of John's name caused her shoulders to shiver, so she sat down next to the boy to hide her sudden jolt. "Well, do you still wonder?"

"Sometimes," he revealed. "But not too often. Just when I'm at Tanner's house and his dad comes home from work with flowers for Tanner's mom." The little boy's bright eyes lit up like fireworks. "Then he'll play video games with us and let us sit on the couch with our shoes on. Sometimes we'll go out and play basketball in their driveway, but that's only if he gets off work before six."

Nikki's heart thumped against her chest harder and faster with every word he spoke. She couldn't believe how much thought he'd put into his ideal family; even though the family he described wasn't theirs. She could still feel his yearning for a real family. One that's complete.

He was such a lucky boy. His family was broken, but he still had the chance to have it become whole again. Not many people can say the same thing.

"Is that what you want?"

Leonardo looked up at his mother with the light faded from his eyes. The last thing he wanted was to upset her. "Well..."

"You can be honest with me," she assured him. "I won't be mad at you."

With a nod of his head, the boy thought about it before answering. "It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to have a dad."

Somewhere deep down in the pit of her stomach, Nikki had hoped that he would say the opposite. Wasn't she enough for him?

"If you want me to...I can tell you who your father is," she said. "I will tell you but only if it's what you really want. And in no way does this mean you have to meet with him or anything like that if it makes you uncomfortable."

"If you do tell me, would you take me to see him?"

Nikki hesitated but pressed her plump lips into a thin line and nodded. "If it's what you want."

"Do you have a picture of him? Tanner's mom put up a picture of him and his dad on their hallway wall. It's of them right after Tanner was born."

The woman cleared her throat uncomfortably. "Well, I don't have a picture of him personally but I'm sure you could find one online."

"Really? Is he like a celebrity or something?" Leonardo's eyes widened with wonder and his back straightened. She couldn't remember a time he'd appeared so thrilled to be listening to news that didn't involve video games or food.

"Well, sort of." Nikki paused and hoped that her son would change his mind, but he remained silent. "Do you remember the other day, after RAW when you met Dean Ambrose?" The boy nodded. "This is going to sound confusing," she spoke softly as her brain became heavy. She knew too many things for her to be allowed to continue living, especially if her thoughts were garnering her this much trouble. "I used to know Dean before we worked together." Leonardo sat, his face unchanged. "Dean and I used to be married...and he is your father."


	8. Unloved

Brie remained tight-lipped as Nikki continued to dwell on her revelation to Leonardo as she swirled her wine around her glass in habit. She wasn't sure how her sister could consume the amount of alcohol that she did but she chose not to chastise her for it for the sake of her own safety.

"He just...he just stared at me. I thought he didn't believe me so I tried to explain it to him two different ways, but he just kept staring," Nikki explained. Shaking her head and drowning herself in wine, the woman's system was still in shock over what transpired. "Do you think he just doesn't care?"

"I doubt that he doesn't _care_." Brie took her own sip of wine and stood up. "He's probably confused."

"Well, that's to be assumed. He seemed so sure that he wanted to know his father, though." Sighing, Nikki released some tension from her shoulders and began to unwind into a blissful state. "I need a year off from being myself," she complained.

The childless, ex-husbandless sister scoffed at her sister's words. "You're kidding me, right?"

"You wouldn't be able to survive a day in my shoes," Nikki replied.

"That's because you strut around in those eight-inch F-me-pumps."

The older twin's eyes grew wide and her arm dropped from her chin, where she had previously propped up her head. "Brianna," she scolded. "They're more expensive than your house."

"Whatever, Nicole." Brie chuckled and sipped her wine some more before resting the glass on a small table. "Speaking of the kid, where is he?"

"He's with Nina at the store. I didn't want him to go because I still feel like he hasn't grasped the concept of having his favorite wrestler be his dad," Nikki told her twin. "How does a kid with only ten years of living experience hear this kind of news and then act like he never heard it?" Nikki shook her head and contemplated how her conversation with Dean would go now that their son knew the truth. Would he react the same way when his eyes were meeting Dean's? Would he feel better about it, or does he already feel fine and just doesn't want to make a big deal out of it? Whatever the case was, Nikki just wanted Leonardo to be happy.

Brie, who has zero understanding of a mother's love for her child, shrugged. "What _exactly_ was his reaction when you told him?"

A sigh departed Nikki's corpulent lips. "It took me a second to actually say the words, but he insisted that he could take the news so I told him. The look on his face..."

"He was excited?"

Nikki shook her head with arched eyebrows. "His face was blank," she recounted. "Like, I expected him to be shocked by the news but he hasn't spoken a word about it since he found out!"

"Put yourself in his place, Nikki. How would you take the news that the person you idolize is more than just a figurine or a poster on the wall, they're your parent? Just imagine the questions he probably has," Brie advised. She had no clue what it truly took to be a mother to anything besides her dog, but she did know that after her parent's divorce she had questions stacked up for miles. And she cared deeply for her nephew and knew his heart better than she realized so with that in mind she felt obliged to give her sister advice even though she'd never been in her situation. "Besides," Brie said with a quick shake of her head, "I don't think he was expecting to hear the words 'Dean Ambrose is your father'."

Nikki knew her sister was right but she wasn't in the place to admit it. "I want him to feel comfortable asking me his questions."

"Did you tell him that?"

"I didn't have the chance," Nikki explained. "Before I could get him to tell me his thoughts, Nina knocked on the door with a finished dinner."

The younger twin's face twisted in jealousy. She wished she could hire a nanny, despite not having children. "Why does your nanny cook your food?"

Without responding to her sister's question, Nikki continued to vent. "Maybe he hates me." Lifting her head up, her eyes grew wide. "Oh, no... He hates me. He absolutely hates me."

"He doesn't hate you-"

"He hates me!" Nikki began pacing around her white living room whilst pouring herself another glass of red-velvet colored wine. "Everything makes sense now. He's mad because I've kept this from him and now he doesn't want anything to do with me because I finally told him, and now it's just too late!" Gulping down the entire glass of wine she poured, Nikki's heart thumped and pounded against her chest. "Every man I've ever loved hates me!"

"Our brother doesn't hate you," Brie said in a hushed whisper.

"He absolutely hates me! And just like all the men in my life he's going to keep it from me until I have to figure out why." Nikki collapsed back down on the couch and rested a hand on her forehead as if she were checking her temperature.

She wasn't sick. Not legitimately, that is.

Brie wanted to laugh but she knew that if she made any sudden motion or sound that her sister might continue ranting about her 'problems'. Her twin was emotional and erratic. One step in the wrong direction and everything could go downhill.

Nikki wasn't always such an emotional wreck. She hadn't always been so _unloved_. In fact, there was a time when she was arguably loved unconditionally for being simply herself; a skill she pertained until probably the very moment she told her son who his father is.

She was loved once. And she missed it.

* * *

 _May 16th, 2004_

 _His mouth was poison. Toxic and dangerous. And irritably addictive._

 _Through every kiss that he planted on her lips - or other sacred places - Nikki hummed with pleasure or, every-so-often, moaned. Eventually a smile formed through the sinful satisfaction._

 _"Dean..." Nikki murmured. "Dean..."_

 _"You wanna stop?" the man in question asked, popping his head up from her stomach where he was laying pecks of lust._

 _She couldn't shake her head. She was enjoying him kissing her and running his hands all over her...it wasn't too much to take physically. Mentally; that was a different story. "No," she answered before grabbing a handful of his dirty-blonde hair and pulling his face up to hers._

 _She wrapped her plump lips around his and stroked his bare chest with one hand while cupping the back of his head with her other. He wasn't the typical man you'd find in a cheesy movie where the woman stumbles upon her prince charming but he was pretty damn close. One look from his should-be-illegal baby blues and she was putty in his hands._

 _Dean could make the twenty-year-old woman do basically anything he wanted her to. They were only two years apart in age, her being older, but nobody could tell by their actions. They were somehow meant for each other in the simplest ways - they made each other ridiculously happy._

 _Twenty minutes of blissful romance later the two finally gave each other some air._

 _"What time is it?" Dean asked before playfully pulling the sheets down from Nikki's bare breasts._

 _The woman giggled and pull the sheets back up. She wasn't insecure, she was just shy. "10:23 in the morning," she said allowing the laughter to subside before rolling over to face him. "What's on the agenda for today?"_

 _"Idonknow," he said, meshing the words together to form an almost inaudible response. "We could do what we did yesterday. And...The day before that..."_

 _"The day before that all we did was make-out after a lovely trip down the Las Vegas strip."_

 _"And it was pure joy," he retorted with a wide, toothy grin that made the woman smile right back with just as much charm. Looking at Nikki caused an uproar of feelings in Dean's heart. Feelings that he'd never admit to having to any other woman, let alone just any woman. Nikki was rare. And someone so rare deserves more than just a weekend in a hotel room. "Hey," he said after a minute of silence, "I've been thinking about something."_

 _Nikki hummed a quiet mm and looked at him. "Spill," she insisted with a seductive smile._

 _Biting his tongue to keep himself from flipping over and going at it again, Dean licked his lips. "This is a serious question."_

 _The woman arched her eyebrow in anticipation. "Shoot, don't go getting mushy on me."_

 _"I think I'm in love with you," he bit the bullet. Since he didn't want her to feel too uncomfortable or shocked, he continued. "And I might be treading into some hot water here but I don't want this to just be some weekend we look back on when we're fifty and stuck in shitty marriages with people we barely even tolerate."_

 _"Dean," she attempted to interrupt._

 _"I don't want us to find other people. You make me crazy happy, Nicole." Despite her numerous requests to call her by the shortened version of her given name, he found the proper one to sound more poetic. "Let's get married."_

 _Nikki shot up out of the bed and took the sheets with her. "You're insane," she verbally assaulted._

 _"Nicole..."_

 _"It's Nikki!" She tightened the thin fabric around her body and shook her head making the already messy bedhead even messier. "We met, what? Like two days ago? In Vegas? We have sex repeatedly in some cheap hotel room that we can't even find the key to, which is why we haven't logically left the bed, and now you're talking marriage?"_

 _Dean's eyes glanced up at the ceiling while he thought over his plea. "Now that you put it that way... No, to hell with the logic of it. Haven't you ever done something off pure impulse?"_

 _"Of course I have," she defended, her voice growing weaker with each word. Truth had it, sleeping with Dean was the biggest risk she'd taken. She didn't even ask him for an STD report or how many other women he'd been with._ That _is acting on impulse._

 _"So," he began as he sat up and walked on his knees to the other side of the bed where he could become eye-level with Nikki. It was in that moment they both thanked him for making sure to slide his boxers back on. "Why don't you take this chance with me?"_

 _"Because it's a lifetime commitment we're talking about not just some trip to Bora Bora."_

 _"We could honeymoon there!" he suggested. Reaching out, Dean took Nikki's left hand into both of his - her other was still holding up the sheets. "We've gotten to know each other a hell of a lot more than other people who have been married for decades. Don't you think we could be happy?"_

 _She was happy with him. But, her mind continued to remind her that they had only known each other and been happy with each other for less than 48 hours. How does that constitute a logical quickie marriage?_

 _"I...I just don't know..."_

 _"Ask me anything you want to know, right now. I swear I'll tell the truth."_

 _"What does that have to do with this?"_

 _"I want you to trust me," he said sternly. "If that's what you need before you say yes than I want you to ask me anything."_

 _Nikki bit her lip and pulled her hand from his so she could pace the floor. "It wouldn't work, Dean. I mean, how do we know that we even would make it past a year?"_

 _"May I remind you that I just confessed my love for you," he spoke softly._

 _"What if we get married and then ten years down the road we want different things? Like, I want a great job and a nice house with a view. I want to travel the world and drive a fancy car!" A smile began to rise on the brunette's face as she pictured her future. "I want so many kids that my mother quits asking for more grandkids and has to beg me to stop having them," she said with a gleaming in her eyes that couldn't be ignored. "What if you don't want that too?"_

 _Dean was mesmerized by how deeply she meant her statements. She was in love with love, which was clear. And he was in love with her. It was a shock to feel, but a joy all the same._

 _"I'm gonna support you and your good job, and I'll get one too so we can buy that nice house with a view. I'll take you wherever the hell you want to go and I'll make sure every mile is comfortable in that luxury sports car. And baby, I'll give you all the kids you want. You know why?" She didn't respond, only burrowed her eyebrows in painful amazement. "Because I love you."_

 _She wasn't sure if it was just the sex talking or if it was the truth but something in his words choked her and brought tears to her eyes. Refusing to let him see her cry, she swallowed down any trace of tears and cleared her throat._

 _"G...good," she said through a rumble of words, "that's good. Because I love you too," she spit out._

 _A smile so wide and so full had never graced that man's face before that moment. "Does that mean you'll marry me?"_

 _Afraid that she'd cry if she spoke another word, Nikki ran her face right into his, pressing her lips against his harder than ever before. There was no way of knowing if they'd last even the night as husband and wife, but his argument was too good to pass. She would love him._

 _Even if it killed her._

* * *

 **Author's note:** Another chapter goes up! Thank you to everyone who reviewed the previous chapter(s), it made me feel super loved. :) I hope you all enjoyed another snippet of Nikki and Dean's past and I can't wait for you all to see what I have in store for you next...I've been running back and forth from the drawing board and boy...do I have some TWISTS for you. This is where I would insert a smirk.

Please review! Until next time...thanks! :)


	9. The Conspiracy Theory

**Author's note:** I always love writing this story...it's just so much fun. Especially when I log on and see the humbling reviews that you all leave me!

I hope you enjoy! Please make sure to read and review, letting me know what your thoughts were! :)

* * *

It had been one whole week since Nikki told Leonardo, and Dean was starting to feel the pressure of fatherhood sinking in.

He isn't one to normally sleep through the night unless he drowns himself in beer but this past week had been torture. Every few minutes he would wake up and retrace every moment he'd ever spent with Nikki and think about how he could have prevented this kid from happening.

Leonardo seems like a great kid and all but Dean never asked to be a father. If anything, all he wanted to do when he found out about him was run away and never look back.

He did it once, it sounded easy enough.

Maybe Leonardo wants nothing to do with him. Maybe he heard his mother's revelation and wasn't convinced of her honesty - perhaps he believes that she lied to him to make him feel better about not knowing his real father. After all, the child said that Dean was his favorite wrestler. What's better than hearing that your idol is blood-related to you? Nothing, that's what.

Releasing a sigh, Dean dropped the weights he was lifting. The sound prompted a handful of other wrestlers who happened to be getting a needed workout in for the day to turn around and check what happened. Most notably, a red-lipped brunette by the name of Brie Bella.

"Hey," she spoke as she made her way to the man. Her tone was worrisome but not in a genuine way and her head continued to bounce from side to side, checking to make sure that nobody was too suspicious about their encounter.

Dean was shocked to see his former sister-in-law approach him. "Hi," he said perplexed.

"Are you alright? You dropped those weights pretty defeated."

He cleared his throat and lowered his tone. "I'm guessing that your sister told you everything," he murmured. She nodded slyly, prompting him to hold back a chuckle. "Should we even be talking in public?"

Brie shrugged and gave another look around the gym. Nobody was watching them. "We're just two co-workers having a chat. Nothing out of the ordinary."

He finally chuckled. "Nothing out of the ordinary," he repeated. "That's hilarious."

Tilting her head, Brie tried to understand the man. How could he not be running around going out of his mind? "Have you heard from her?"

"You mean since she told the kid who I was?" He shook his head. "I haven't even seen her around."

"Well it isn't like she's been in hiding or anything."

Dean grabbed a towel and dropped to the bench next to him without a sound. "Do you know how it went? With...uh, Leonardo?"

"He prefers Leo," she explained, "but don't let Nikki hear you call him that. I heard that Nikki told him and well...nothing really happened."

"Nothing happened? What do mean _nothing_ happened? He must have said something." Was he right? Does the kid really hate him for this? And why was this bothering him so much?

"She told me that he didn't have much to say." Brie bent over and picked up twenty-pound weights to begin lifting. The last thing she wanted was for someone to see her speaking with Dean longer than she should and begin asking questions. "If you ask me he's just confused. Nikki seems convinced that he hates her, however."

The idea of someone hating that woman caused Dean to scoff. "She's his mother. It's hard to hate your mother unless she's an abusive crack whore."

Brie gulped to avoid feeling too uncomfortable by his language. She couldn't even picture her sister walking down the aisle with this man let alone having a child with him. From what she could see, Dean and Leonardo couldn't be any more different. Leonardo was sweet and smart. Dean was vile and mysterious. That was little relief to the constantly worried aunt of the boy who's biggest fear was Leonardo turning into a womanizer. Who knows - perhaps Leonardo would take a page from his father if they met and would become a mirror image of the man.

That was purely terrifying.

"Can I ask you a question?" Brie asked.

A bundle of nerves hit Dean's stomach but he didn't want her to know. "Sure."

"Do you want to be in his life?"

He was expecting a question along those lines yet his breath was still taken away by it. "Uh," he stammered, "I...uh, well... I don't know." He looked down at the floor while the woman ahead of him endured her exercise. "If he and Nicole can agree that it's what they're alright with then I guess it wouldn't be too much of a change. It isn't like I'd be the coach of his soccer teams or anything."

"He doesn't play soccer," she said with a cheeky grin. "He likes to play video games and read. He's definitely related to me." She paused before realizing that he'd referred to her sister by her full name. "Nicole...really?"

"What?"

"You called Nikki by her full name, Nicole." She wasn't aware that her smile became less of a proud smile and more of an astute one. "Why is that?"

After all the years that had passed, Dean didn't even comprehend that he'd called his former wife by her given name. It didn't sound as sexual as it used to, rolling off his tongue. It was a force of habit. "I don't know," he repeated for what seemed like the thousandth time.

"It's funny...I barely know a thing about you but for some reason I feel like you're supposed to be a part of my life."

"You know that I'm seeing Renee, right?"

It was Brie's turn to drop the weights. "I'm not interested in you, you idiot." She looked around and shifted uncomfortably when she realized the entire gym had turned to glance at what was causing the ruckus. "I just meant that I think you're going to be hanging around my family and me a lot more. All things considered."

 _This chick_ , Dean thought. Without saying goodbye, Brie went back to the other side of the gym to grab her things and leave. He watched her walk away and felt knots in his stomach. Why was it that every time he witnessed one of those damn Bella twins that his insides got all twisted and jacked up?

He was happy with Renee - blissfully happy. Sure, they didn't have a son together but that didn't mean that the day that it happens won't come. Renee was everything he could want and he'd already made it past the two week mark - long ago - so how much further until things become officially...official?

With the way things were he could predict a future with her. A future that he could've had with Nikki...but he won't. He'll have it Renee. And he was okay with that...

He thought.

* * *

It was one of the greatest times to be a WWE employee, as the company decided to take a trip to Australia for some live events. Since Leonardo was out of school for the summer, Nikki thought it would be a great time to show him the world.

The plane ride had just begun and Nikki had just turned her phone onto airplane mode when Leonardo started to discuss their plans.

"So," he began, "what do you think about swimming with dolphins?"

Nikki chuckled and turned to look at his cheerful face. "Swimming with dolphins...huh, I didn't think about it. Maybe I can ask and see if we can head out there."

"Does that mean that those people with the cameras will follow us around like they did when you and Aunt Brie took me to the grocery store?"

She wasn't sure if he was upset but by the tone he'd presented her with, all she had to do was assume. "Well," she started out with, "I don't know. How would you feel if they do?"

The boy shrugs. "It doesn't bother me, if it's what has to happen. It's weird though when they want to follow us _everywhere_ that we decide to go."

"If you're ever uncomfortable with them following us, then all you have to do is tell me and I can make them leave us alone." She reached out and gently ran her hand through the boy's full head of hair. "There's going to be a lot of people who want your picture and as hard as I'm going to try and protect you from the crazies, there's just going to be more of them."

"Is that why you didn't tell me about my father?"

Nikki opened her mouth to speak but her thoughts weren't correlating to her vocals. "You..." She cleared her throat and raked a hand through her own hair before continuing. "You haven't asked about him in a while. I was beginning to think you didn't really want to know him."

"He _is_ my father. If I don't get to know him then he won't get to know me."

"That would be true, but you know that you don't have to do anything about this, right? He isn't exactly the kind of man that your friend's fathers are."

Leonardo nodded. "I know that."

"You do?" Obviously he wouldn't know about his father's real personality; the one that only those closest to him know. The personality that drove him to leave her stranded in Las Vegas with an annulment request.

"He doesn't work in an office building or wear a suit to work like Tanner's dad. And he's always traveling so he's never home like Bryan's dad. Plus, his hair is too long. Michael's dad's hair is really short."

"Isn't Michael's dad in the army?"

"I think so," he replied.

Nikki sends the boy a polite smile. "Do you want to get to know Dean?"

"What if he doesn't want to be my dad? What if he gets to know me and doesn't want to hang around me anymore?"

If her heart could ever physically break into two pieces, it did in that moment. Hearing her own son fear the worst about his father and whether or not he's going to have a loving one was too painful to listen to.

This was all her fault. She was the one who brought up the concept of him having a father in his life. Before she told the world about Leonardo, nobody even batted an eyelash his way. Nobody recognized him as Nikki Bella and Dean Ambrose's son. He was a normal boy with a happily broken home. And then she opened her big mouth about her failed marriage and beautiful wedding gift and everybody lost their mind. Now he's breaking her heart while wondering if the man he once called only his favorite wrestler would accept him as his child.

How did this happen?

"Everybody who meets you falls in love with you, Leonardo. Just imagine my position. I have to keep him far enough away from you to prevent him from stealing you away!" She smiled, but it didn't erase the worry from his eyes. "If you want to meet with him and get to know him then I'm not going to stop you. You have every right to be his son."

"But what if-"

"He is not going to say no to you. Nobody can say no to you. I'm bringing you all the way to Australia because I couldn't leave you behind," she comforted. "Dean might not make the best dad in theory, but who knows? Maybe he'll surprise the both of us."

Her fake grin was stretching from ear to ear. She wasn't even sure if she believed herself but she still knew that it would make Leonardo feel better and that's all that mattered.

He was all that mattered.

* * *

Dean sat across from Renee at their dinner date and stared. He wondered if she could sense that something had changed over the past few weeks. Did she know, deep down, that there was something different about him?

Like how he went from being her lunatic boyfriend to the father of a ten-year-old in a matter of hours?

Renee dug into her spaghetti and didn't even notice Dean's piercing eyes staring a hole through her head. When she looked up to break the awkward silence it didn't seem to faze her, seeing him staring at her. "How was your day, today?"

"It was fine," he replied as he looked back down at his meal. "And yours?"

"I interviewed Nikki Bella for Unfiltered," she spoke nonchalantly.

His chest, once again, tightened at the mentioning of her name. He couldn't control his curiosity. "How did it go?"

"It was very interesting. It was her first interview for the company talking about her son but she was great. She showed me some pictures of the boy...ah, I can't remember his name. Luke? No... Lenard..."

"Leonardo."

Renee's eyes shot up from her meal. Resting her fork down slowly, the blonde returned his previous stares in confusion. "Yeah, Leonardo. How did you know that?"

He licked his lips and glanced around the restaurant at the people passing by, trying his best to look casual. "I think I remember hearing it around the locker room." She nodded in response. "Anyways, so did she talk about anything else aside from the kid?"

"Nothing too interesting. She wouldn't even give me the father's name," she said as she picked her fork back up. "It was weird, like she was afraid to tell me. I've seen other people ask her and she just nods them off but with me she looked so uncomfortable even bringing that up."

Dean hummed. "I wonder why."

Her expression changed from confusion to investigative. "What if I know who the father is and she knows that I know so she won't tell me who it is?" She gasped deeply and shot her head up. "What if the father works for WWE?"

He was trying not to sweat but small beads of salty liquid formed on the back of his neck. Clearing his throat he realized how awkward he must have looked so he quickly adjusted himself in his seat. "I don't think that's the case."

"Oh, come on. You never seem to like conspiracies."

"Because they're full of crap. People who like conspiracies don't have a sense of reality."

"I like conspiracies," she reminded him. "All I'm saying is that if Nikki's baby daddy worked for the same company as her and that's why she won't tell anybody his name, then that would make headlines! It's no wonder she's so tight-lipped about it. The universe would lose its mind! Two wrestlers who meet over a decade ago, get married, have a baby and then work together like nothing happened?"

Dean stuffed his mouth with food. "I doubt it's that normal."

"It would go viral! Just imagine..."

"Renee," he spoke before she could continue with her speech, "I think you've had too much wine."

The blonde sighed and eyed the empty wine glass in front of her. "I suppose you're right." A hearty laugh escaped her thin lips and her head dropped back before bouncing back up. "I was actually convincing myself that Nikki Bella, the most transparent Diva in the locker room aside from the whole baby thing, was once married to a fellow employee and nobody knows about it."

Dean let out a fake laugh to relieve some of the tension in his chest. "Yeah..."

"Oh, boy. I need some sleep."


	10. She's Okay

The next morning Nikki awoke to the sound of a fist pounding against her hotel room's door. Her head was spinning after only a few hours of sleep the night before. She'd stayed up so late with worry over her son, Leonardo. He'd been online looking at pictures of Dean and comparing them to pictures of himself until he passed out from exhaustion.

Normally if the child spent too much time online or playing before bed Nikki would get onto him about it, but since he'd been so stressed about everything that he'd found out about Dean, she was too afraid to make him upset. After all it isn't every day that you find out your father is someone you've idolized since you were seven.

Nikki rolled out of bed and got to her feet. She was so drained that she could barely hold her eyes open, however she crept her way to the door and pulled it open. The fluorescent lights in the hallway were too bright for her drowsy eyes so it took her a second to recognize the familiar face in front of her. "Dean," she greeted with a yawn.

"Sorry...it's late. I can come back," he replied.

"It's fine..." Nikki stepped out into the hall and closed the door behind her. "What's up?"

Taken aback by her hospitality, Dean shrugged it off as groggy friendliness. "I couldn't sleep last night, or tonight if we're keeping score. This whole kid thing is freaking me out." He left out the part where his girlfriend may or may not be onto their trail.

"What...well, what do you..." Nikki shook her head and raked a hand through her hair. "What do you want me to do about it?"

"You can start by telling me how he took the news," he said quickly, almost cutting her off. "I talked to Brie earlier and from what she told me, he didn't react too kindly to it."

She shifted uncomfortably, in part to wake herself up a tad and also because she was still getting used to the idea the possibility of having Dean in her life again. "It took him a while to accept the facts, yes. But he isn't against anything. Turns out he's just afraid."

"Afraid?" Dean's face contorted with confusion. "He's afraid of me?"

Nikki shook her head in disagreement. "Not afraid _of_ you, afraid of what you'll do."

He wasn't sure whether he should chuckle or cower in shame. "What do you mean afraid of what I'll do? What - does he think I'm going to put him in a chokehold until he can't see straight or something?"

She sent him a chastising look. "He's afraid that you won't want to be his father anymore if you meet him," she replied with her arms tightly crossed.

The words sent shockwaves down his spine. He could handle his son hating him and wanting nothing to do with him, but the idea that Leonardo is afraid that _he_ will want nothing to do with him physically hurt. It was a kind of pain that he couldn't explain and had no intention of trying to.

Nikki sighed. "I told him it was stupid to think that."

"Yeah," Dean agreed and looked down at his feet as they shuffled around awkwardly. "Yeah, it's stupid."

With her arms still crossed, Nikki's eyes finally fully adjusted to the hallway lights. She glanced down the hall at a man who was stumbling drunk into his room with a blonde woman with her high heels dangling from her chipped French manicure. Something about the scene was discomforting to witness. Two people so intoxicated that they can't see the disturbing image around them.

"Did you come all the way here just to ask that?"

Dean chuckled at the realization that he was standing outside Nikki's hotel room with his hands stuffed in his leather jacket at five in the morning. "I don't know why I didn't wait until the sun was out or something."

"No, it's smart. We don't want anybody figuring out our connection."

 _Our connection._ Leonardo was hardly a connection if that's what she meant. It sounded so shady, which to some it was, but still so...oddly sexual. Their connection nowadays was anything but sexual considering their annulment and their gift of a son. A son who Dean still wasn't sure about raising.

"Right," Dean said quietly. He hadn't even considered the logical reason for meeting up so late. Or early depending on the kind of person you are. "Does he want to...you know...meet with me? He doesn't have to if he doesn't want to."

"I told him that."

"And?" he interrupted her, just barely cutting her off.

Nikki took a second to rearrange her thoughts. He used to make her so weak in the knees that now whenever they spoke her mind lost control. "He's open to it. I just don't know what his standards are."

"You think he'll have standards?"

She sent him a questioning look before remembering how he doesn't know about Leonardo's personality. "Rule number one for meeting with my son: his standards for friends and companions are much stricter than mine so if you cross him-"

"I won't," he interjected again.

"Good," she replied instantly without taking a second to allow the information to sink in. She was making plans for her son to finally meet Dean with the knowledge that they're related. It was nerve-wracking. "What does your schedule look like tomorrow?"

Rolling his shoulders back, Dean thought about the detailed itinerary that he received via e-mail the week before. "I think I have a local interview at eight and then training at noon. Then I have to be back at the hotel by four before we head out to the arena for the live event."

"We?" Nikki questioned without thinking. "As in you and Renee?"

"As in me, Renee, and most of the people on the roster. What kind of question was that?"

She shakes her head in confusion. She wasn't sure why she'd asked him that. Renee was always kind to her; aside from the journalistic interrogation during the Unfiltered interview they were always civil with each other. Even with the fact that the blonde was dating Nikki's ex-husband, Nikki never bothered to treat her maliciously. It wasn't in her DNA to do such a thing.

"I don't know...I think I'm just tired."

"So tired that you forgot about the show tomorrow?"

Nikki allowed herself to fake a yawn for the sake of her justification. "Tired enough. I should probably head back in soon. Leonardo is sleeping and I don't want him waking up to an empty room." She paused before continuing onto a characteristic that Leonardo was always weary about revealing. "He can sometimes be afraid of the dark, especially if he's alone in it."

Dean nodded and took a cautionary step away. There was enough strain between them to start a war. It wasn't visible but they could feel it rising slowly with every minute they spent together. "So, tomorrow then?" he asked, the whole situation making him feel the need to hurry everything along.

"Tomorrow's great."

"What time is good for you?"

"Any time after 2:30 and before the show is fine."

Another nod moved Dean's head and he watched as the brunette reached behind her and began to twist the door handle. "I'll come by around 3."

"Okay," she replied. Without saying goodbye Dean walked away and Nikki watched as he disappeared around the corner before making her way back inside. The contrast between the bright hallway and the dark room was blinding but Nikki did her best to find the lock on the door.

"Was that my dad?"

Nikki jumped at the sudden breakage of silence and turned around. "Leonardo..." She saw that the boy was standing across the room where the moonlight outside the window created a silhouette of the boy's figure. "What are you doing awake? It's nearly 5:30 in the morning."

"I could be asking you the same thing," the boy said with a cunning smirk. It quickly disappeared however as he took a groggy step forward. "Was that Dean?"

She hesitated before answering. "Yes, it was."

Leonardo's face contorted with confusion. "Why is he here so early in the morning? Did he try to take me away from you? I saw that on TV once. The dad came back into the kid's life and tried to take him away from his mom. Is that what's happening?"

"What - no!" Nikki shook her head and pressed her hand to her forehead. "Of course not. Dean's not going to take you away. But he is stopping by tomorrow around 3."

"Tomorrow or today?"

Nikki sighed at her son's wit. "Today I guess."

"You guess? You can't guess at these sorts of things! This is my life we're talking about!"

"Calm down, Leonardo." The brunette walked over and got down on her knees so that she was at eye-level with her son. "Nobody is taking you away from me and everything is going to go smoothly. Dean is going to love you."

The boy's face yearned for an answer. "You promise?"

It was hard for her to say the words, but she knew that she had to. "Yes."

* * *

"How do I look?"

Nikki turned around to find Leonardo adjusting the collar of his polo shirt. It was a Christmas gift from his aunt Brie who thought it would be funny to see such an adventurous child wearing such a classy shirt. She smiled at the sight.

"You look spectacular," she replied meaning every word. "But there's no need for the façade. Dean isn't the kind of guy to pay attention to your appearance," she lied. It wasn't a complete lie but it gave the kid a chance to calm down.

"Good." Leonardo gave his mother a cheerful grin. He was nervous beyond belief, for what he hadn't quite figured out. It didn't matter whether Dean liked him or not; he would still have Nikki and that was all that mattered.

The brunette smiled down at the young boy before turning herself to the mirror. She dug out a tight red dress that she'd worn only twice before to random events. It cut low enough to showcase her dramatic cleavage and was tight enough to proudly hug her curves. She hadn't picked out a pair of heels yet and she decided to wait until it was time to head out to the arena. Even though Dean was coming to them and she - for some reason - felt the need to play dress up, there wasn't a reason to throw on a pair of expensive heels when they would only get a few feet of use.

Nikki's hair was curled perfectly to her desire and her make-up was freshly done by one of the artists who happened to be staying on the same hall. She'd conjured up some lame excuse for needing her face smothered with brushes and creams just to look decent.

Dean and Nikki had a troubled past but it wasn't like they were going to hook up. They were meeting for the soul purpose of reuniting father and son. Innocent. So while there was no significant need for the woman to strut herself around in a full ensemble of glamor, she _wanted_ to. She wanted to appear put together for the man who left her all those years ago.

He may have left her alone but as far as he would be able to tell, unbroken.

Just as the brunette was about to suggest Leonardo brush his hair, there was a knock at the door similar to the one from earlier that morning. Nikki's head shot up from the mirror and her eyes singled out the doorknob. In a matter of seconds she would turn that knob and open the barrier between past and future. In a matter of seconds Leonardo would no longer have _just_ a mother.

In a matter of seconds the world she knew would have a completely different face. Completely.

"Is that him?" Leonardo asked sweetly. He was equally excited.

Nikki's mind snapped back into reality at the sound of her son's voice. Turning her head to him, she answered, "I don't know."

The boy gestured toward the door and Nikki hurried along. Placing a hand around the door knob, the woman gave one last sigh before exiting her comfortable little place in the past. She swung the door open with a plastic smile to see Dean in all his glory.

He was wearing his signature leather jacket and messy hair, but his jeans looked clean and he smelt as if he had doused himself in cheap cologne. Knowing him, Nikki applauded his efforts.

"Dean," she greeted, the grin just as sweet and fake as it was before. "Come on in."

The man waltzed in casually. His heart was beating roughly yet he maintained a plain face. In recent days he'd noticed how much stronger he presented himself, as if he was afraid more of his son seeing him weak rather than actually being weak. Unsure of whether to reintroduce himself to Leonardo, Dean simply stood in a maladroit fashion as Nikki closed and locked the door behind them.

"Alright. Dean, this is Leonardo and Leonardo, this is Dean." Nikki's smile remained friendly but it remained up under false pretenses.

Dean nodded at the boy as a greeting. "Hey there."

Leonardo copied the gesture but couldn't smile through the nervousness. "How do you do?"

The man took a moment to register the words that poured from his mouth. He definitely had spent too much time with Nikki's much classier friends and not enough with the kind of kids Dean had grown up around. "I'm fine. How about you?"

"I've been a little stressed as of late. But my mom says that there's nothing to be worried about when it comes to you. She said that you aren't the kind of guy to look into appearances but I still thought I should look nice," he said in a fast pace. Although everything he said was true, his nerves were still getting the best of him.

Dean had to chuckle. "Your mom really said that about me?" He bent over without turning back to the woman in question so that he was closer to Leonardo. "If we're being honest," he said in a hushed whisper so quiet that only he and the boy could hear, "that isn't all true. You wouldn't be here if I didn't think your mom was pretty in the first place."

The statement left a clearly disgusted expression on Leonardo's face. "You still think my mom is pretty?" he asked, returning the low whisper.

He wasn't sure how to respond. How far did he need to go to bond with the kid? He gave a glance back at Nikki and was stunned by the sight. When he first entered the room he paid little attention to her because the only thing going on in his head was meeting this boy. But now...his eyes were locked on the woman's beauty. He saw her every week, dressed up with her make-up and hair completely done, and the image still didn't stick with him until that moment.

She was gorgeous. Beyond words.

"She's okay," he responded without unlocking his eyes from his ex-wife.

* * *

 **Author's note:** I hope that you enjoyed the cute little Nikkirose scenes all throughout this chapter! In case you had not noticed, there was a problem with FFnet this past week and so my last update might not have been seen by some people unless you have an alert set for it. Also, I published a one-shot featuring multicouples, so in case you missed that you can check it out on my profile.

Thank you! Please review! Stay tuned for the next update. :)


	11. An Old Friend (Sort Of)

**Author's note:** A quick response to the anonymous review from last chapter - thank you for your suggestion. While I appreciate your input I don't think that I will be writing any Nikkirose smut for this story anytime soon. It wouldn't flow with these first few chapters and it also isn't my specialty. I wouldn't want to subject anybody to poor writing, which any smut I would produce would end up being. Sorry about that...

Thank you for the reviews on the pervious chapter! This is shaping up to be my most popular story yet with all the responses in the short amount of time this has been up. It means the world to me! And I really do mean it when I say that. Reading the kind and even critical words that you have to write not only help my writing and my thought process, but they also inspire me to continue with this silly little passion I have.

I hope you all enjoy this! Thanks! :)

* * *

The room service had just come to the room when Nikki decided to give the two guys some privacy. She gave the waiter an extra tip - just in case he figured anything out or got lippy, he would keep his mouth shut - before slipping into the bathroom and locking the door. Getting her phone from her purse, the brunette selected her sister's contact to call her.

She waited until she heard a tired answer before speaking. "Brie? Are you awake yet? Girl, it's almost time to go to work."

"I'm awake," she replied in an even sleepier voice as she used every ounce of strength she had to sit up. "I swear, I'm up."

"Well you better be because I'm about to tell you something that you may or may not believe."

Brie rolled out of bed and dangled her feet over the edge, the sheets still piled up on her thighs. With one last yawn and a stretch she nodded. "Okay, shoot."

Nikki sighed before beginning. "Dean came over at five o'clock this morning and told me that he would be willing to meet with Leonardo so then he came back at three-ish and now he's out there with our son."

"Wait...what do you mean out there? Where are you right now?"

The woman gave a quick glance around at her surroundings in shame. "I locked myself in the bathroom."

Hearing her sister say those words, knowing the context in which they're put, made her laugh through her grogginess. "You're joking, right?" She continued to laugh until she didn't hear Nikki returning the gesture. "Oh, God. Nicole you didn't lock yourself in the bathroom."

Nikki's face stretched in embarrassment. "I didn't know what else to do," she stated in the same low whisper she'd been speaking in the whole time. "I was just sitting there eating my salad when I really started to pay attention to what they were doing."

"What were they doing?"

"Talking," she replied simply.

The answer made Brie shake her head in disbelief. "Again, you have to be messing around with me. I thought that this is what you wanted."

"I never said that."

"But you made such a big deal about them _not_ getting to know each other." Brie stood up and threw her free arm above her head, stretching a little more. "I just assumed that you'd be jumping around with joy by now."

"Is that why you approached Dean and told him about my conversation with Leonardo?"

Brie dropped her arm down by her side and stared off into the distance. "I was doing a public service."

Nikki shook her head again. "For who?" Her head was still shaking when she heard a burst of laughter coming from the other room and, out of curiosity, felt the need to go out and see what the fuss was about. "I'll have to call you back. You better be down at the car by 3:45 or I'm going to call a security guard to come and drag you out." Before she could respond, Nikki hung up.

Flushing the toilet - just for the looks of things - Nikki messed with her hair a tad before opening up the door and walking back out into the room. She looked over and saw that Dean and Leonardo were watching a cartoon on the television, every once in a while peering over at each other when the other wasn't looking to make sure they were enjoying themselves.

 _They really are a lot alike_. Nikki sighed and cleared her throat to get their attention. Once they were both looking at her, she put on another smile, this time less fake than before. "I hate to break up the party, but if we're going to be on time for the show then we might want to start heading over there soon."

"Why can't we have five more minutes?" Leonardo begged.

Dean's eyes traveled from the back of Leonardo's head up to Nikki. He was shocked to hear that the boy actually wanted to spend more time with him. They hadn't talked about much in their thirty minutes together besides some wrestling trivia - all of which Leonardo knew like the back of his hands. It didn't make sense why he would want to continue doing that same thing for another five minutes.

"I wish you could but you need to brush your teeth," she replied.

With a sigh, Leonardo stood from his seat on the couch and stomped dramatically to the bathroom. "I'll give you too some privacy," he said while sending his mother a hinting wink and closing the bathroom door shut.

Nikki, who had no idea what to think about her son's charade, turned to face Dean. He'd gotten off the couch and made his way over to her by the time Leonardo locked himself in the bathroom, so he hadn't seen the exchange.

"Uh," Dean began with a confused mumble, "thanks. For letting me see him, you know."

"Oh, no problem." Nikki's smile grew a bit brighter.

He cleared his own throat and shifted awkwardly in his stance. "You look nice."

Her eyes widened slightly. She hadn't expected a compliment to come from his often foul lips. "Really? I just kind of threw this on," she lied. They both knew she didn't tell the truth, but they didn't say anything about it. "But thank you."

"Don't mention it." He wasn't sure what had come over him but he was torn between making plans to see Leonardo again and then walking away or skipping his responsibilities as a WWE employee and spending the rest of the day playing house with Nikki and his son.

Nikki could tell something was bothering him. "So, do you want to make this a regular thing? Like weekend visits or something?"

"I don't really know how that would work since we both travel."

She nodded. "I guess I can bring him to all the shows that are close to our house and you can see him then. We can start there," she suggested.

He wanted to fight her for more time but he didn't feel like he had a place to. He'd only met the kid just over a week ago. It wouldn't be fair for him to just up and start demanding to see him every week.

Plus, he still needed time to be with Renee without feeling too guilty.

"That sounds fine," he stated. He could faintly hear the water from the sink running so he knew that Leonardo had been listening to their conversation up to that point. "Is he going to be at the show later?"

"Yeah, he will. I could find someone to look after him so he'll just be hanging around backstage unless he finds someone to sit with in the crowd."

Dean nodded for probably the millionth time in the last 24 hours. With a swift rake through his already messy hair, he sighed. "I better get going before Renee leaves for the arena without me."

"Of course," she responded. Her chest tightened at the reference to his girlfriend's name. She couldn't tell what emotion she was feeling but it wasn't good. "We'll see you there."

The former couple stood in silence before Dean departed without a touchy goodbye. Leonardo waited for the room's door to close shut and then slid the bathroom door open, revealing a confused expression.

"Do you two still like each other?"

Nikki's eyebrows raised. "I'm sorry?"

"You and Dean. Or, should I start calling him my dad? I don't know," he went off track. "You two are weird around each other."

"That doesn't mean there's anything romantic going on," she assured him. "I'm being friendly to him so that things aren't tense."

Leonardo, wise beyond his years he is, crossed his arms. "How friendly?"

The woman's jaw dropped defensively as she shook her head. "We're going to have this discussion another time. Get your things, we're already running behind schedule."

Her son does as she orders but doesn't appear happy about it. Nikki watched him until they were ready and he stomped down the hall in his usual upset manner. His question burned a hole in her head and the longer she thought about it the deeper the hole became.

How friendly is too friendly when you're dealing with your ex?

* * *

All Dean remembers is seeing Leonardo's bright eyes before the lights went out. A swift kick by Luke Harper was enough to clear his mind of all thoughts because the minute that big foot of his connected with Dean's skull, everything went dark.

He was sitting in the trainer's room with his back against the leather chair as the doctor flashed a bright light in both of his eyes.

"It doesn't look like a concussion," he said. "But I'd like to run another test and make sure. We can't have you running wild out there with an endangered brain."

Dean gave the man an agitated glare and waited for him to pick up his clipboard and ask him irrelevant questions. He'd had concussion tests before but he was so frustrated with the things going on in his life at the moment that the absolute last thing he wanted to do was be stuck in a trainer's room with a doctor poking into his foggy memory.

"Who is the first president of the United States?"

Dean sighed. He hates these questions already. "George Washington."

"Good. What is your full name?"

"Jonathan Good, but I've gone by Dean ever since I can remember," he answered honestly.

The doctor nodded and jotted something down on the paper before him. "Alright and where are you?"

"Some city in Australia."

"Do you know the name of the city?"

"I didn't know the name when I got here," he recalled. "I just show up to these things. Can I go now? I'll be sure to study for my next exam."

The man let out a tired laugh. "It's good to see you haven't forgotten that sense of humor. Yes, Dean. You're good to go. But if you feel light headed or nauseous at any time without a trigger within the next 36 hours, call me or another doctor. Okay?"

Dean nodded and jumped out of the chair. "Later, Doc."

The city, whatever the name was, made Dean's skin boil. Not just because it was blazing over 100 degrees and could burn his skin if he dared to step into the sunlight but because he knew that somewhere, hidden deep in a solitary room in that was hard to find in the arena, was his son.

His son who he would give anything to protect without understanding why.

He wasn't sure why he chose the hall he was in to walk down. He had no idea where to go. Renee was probably doing an interview and Leonardo was probably watching his mother wrestle, so he didn't have anywhere to go even if he knew how to get around.

After listening to his shoes slap against the floor of the arena for what felt like hours, Dean finally found the locker room where his bags were emptied out. The room was empty, surprisingly, but he didn't complain. On top of everything that he was dealing with, the last thing he wanted to do was sit through a one-sided conversation with a co-worker who he didn't care for.

And that's usually how his encounters with others went. Someone he doesn't like approaches him and he suffers through the conversation with an obviously bored face. That's just who he was. He doesn't care if other people become uncomfortable witnessing his discomfort.

To each his own, he says.

Dean situated himself on a steel chair as he bent over and stuffed his suitcase with his clothes, cleaning up the mess he'd created before the show when he had to get ready. There was still sweat on his black shirt so he changed out of it before lazily tossing it in with his other belongings. Just as he was about to grab his things and get out, the locker room door swung open and shut.

"I heard about your head," a familiar voice rang out.

For some reason when Dean looked up to see his gorgeous blonde girlfriend, he felt disappointed. Who had he been expecting to show up?

"It's nothing," he responds. "Just a bump."

"Just a bump? I saw what happened on some fan's phone. Luke practically kicked your nose into your skull." Renee walked up to him and knelt down onto her knees so she was just beneath him. Resting her hands on both sides of his face, she does her own inspection of his cranium. "Doesn't look bad."

"Thank you for your medical opinion."

Renee smiled and stood back up. "Where were you earlier? You were late to the hotel room before the show."

Confused as to why she hadn't asked that burning question when he did arrive late, he simply looked up at her. "I was visiting an old friend."

"An old friend?" She chuckled at the explanation as if he were joking. "You have an old friend who lives in Australia?"

Dean chuckled back at her, hoping that it would ease the rising tension in her shoulders. "There's a lot of things you don't know about me."


	12. Hard to Talk With

**Author's note:** I know I haven't updated in a while, but I've been fairly busy lately getting ready to start the school year. This time of year sucks because it's just the calm before the storm and then before we know it school work is getting in the way of my writing and then I only get about one update per month - if I'm lucky. But you've got to do what you've got to do.

Thank you for the reviews on my previous update! This story has already surpassed some of my former popular stories (one of them being a series) so I have to say thanks! I hope that you all enjoy this update and I can't wait for the next one...whenever that will be...hopefully by the end of the week? Time will tell.

Enjoy! :)

* * *

 _February 14th, 2015_

 _Nikki couldn't help but smile as she watched her pride and joy run up and down the hallway with his friends. His smile was luminous and his eyes were cheerful. It was his tenth birthday party, and while his mother was sitting at home watching his birthday party through videos taken by their nanny, she was enjoying every second of it._

 _People still didn't know about her and her son's connection. She wanted to tell the world about how much she loved her son; especially every time that complained to her boyfriend, John about never getting married or having children._

 _"Doesn't he look happy?"_

 _Nikki looked up at Nina, her nanny, and forced a bright smile. "He looks ecstatic. And I'm guessing he's completely worn out."_

 _"Oh, he's out like a light." Nina returned her smile, however hers was legitimate. She loved that boy like he was her own. She'd been working for Nikki ever since she joined the WWE and while she had no blood connection to the family, she felt a strong connection. Nikki was her friend and Leonardo was a wonderful little boy who she would die for. And she literally would die for him. Numerous occasions have presented her the chance to prove that, such as the 2009 incident where Leonardo tried to cross the street while she checked the mail and she did a dive roll to save him from tripping in a pot hole. Not as dangerous as getting run over by a moving vehicle, but she still told the story about saving his life._

 _The mother sighed and handed the iPad back to Nina. "Thank you," she said in almost disappointment. "Thank you for everything."_

 _"Don't worry about it, sweetheart. Leonardo is a beautiful boy with such a lovely brain. He's going to grow up into such a wonderful man."_

 _Nikki nodded at Nina to gesture for her to leave so that she could mourn her son's growth in solitude._

* * *

The flight back from Australia was brutal on Leonardo's sleep schedule, but Nikki tried not to complain. She knew that he was sound asleep in his room despite the fact that it was only 7:30 and the sun had yet to set.

Nikki allowed her mind to drift off into space as she held herself away from the full wine bottle in the corner of her kitchen. She needed to wean herself off the poison so she kept herself distracted. She thought about...Dean.

Dean was confusing. She still couldn't figure out her thoughts about him. Did she want him to be a part of Leonardo's life for his sake or for hers? What did she have to gain from him returning to her life? And why the hell did she become suddenly so offended by the simple mention of Renee's name? The questions distract her only long enough to crave the taste of wine on her tongue.

Leonardo needed a father. That was her answer to the first question. He needed a father to be in his life because she simply couldn't continue playing both parts. It only would confuse the boy further.

Nikki nods. She can answer her own questions. She can do it.

What she could gain from his return...a much tougher subject it seemed.

Dean was never a bad guy. He just did something stupid and married the wrong person at the wrong time. Of course, he could've stayed, been a man, and worked things out - if not for him for the sake of their future son. But he didn't know. She couldn't blame him for not acting on something he had no clue was happening. That's more unfair then him leaving...

Is it, though?

Nikki sighed and her eyes burned holes in the wine bottle. She needed something to take the edge off from all this thinking. She shook her head and looked down at the marble countertop.

Distracted...keep distracted...

Dean leaving messed her up.

She had only dated wrestlers from that point on, ironically, and never found someone who shared her ideals. Nick, or Dolph as he's known now, was a catch. He was athletic and funny, obviously fit and handsome, but he didn't want kids at the time. They barely even called each other their 'significant other' before he dropped the whole "I just don't think I'm ready for a family" bomb and she knew she had to get out of it. That's when she blew up at him for dancing too close to a former diva, Maria, and nearly ruined her own reputation.

Damn, she did a lot for her son.

Then there was John. Simply thinking of him made Nikki's blood boil. She used to be heavily reliant on that man. He bought her a house, a fancy car, a private jet, gorgeous heels and outfits that hugged her new curves...but that was all so superficial. He told her he loved her and wanted to be with her for forever, but could never find the courage to give her a ring. It didn't even have to be fancy or expensive. She would've taken a piece of string tied at the end if that's what it took for him to make the commitment. Plus, she managed to keep her son away from that chaos for two years because deep down she knew that him not wanting children would turn around to bite her in the ass if he found out about Leonardo.

She was a good mom. She hid her son from the drama and despair of her world. It looks so pretty on the outside, wrapped in a shiny package with a nice bow on top, but under the surface Nikki's world was one endless road to hell. And keeping Leonardo away from that was the only thing in her life that she knew how to do by instinct.

Once again her eyes burned holes in the bottle across the room, this time the image in her mind was almost too vivid as she could see the wall behind it in perfect presentation. Deep down she knew that she could maintain enough control to avoid divulging, so she bit her lips.

Distractions... Stay distracted!

Dean was happy with Renee. Nikki knew that. If she didn't know anything, she knew that. She could see the little gleam in his eyes when he had an interview with her on television and he could see her returning the glance. It hurt, sometimes to see him so happy with another woman, considering how close it was to being her, but she swallowed her pride and kept her mouth sealed.

And she would never ever admit to being upset by their coupling. It wasn't her place and she wasn't an intruder.

Plus she had no clue if her feelings even meant something. They weren't just different people, they were opposites. They were 10 years apart now. Not in age, just in timing. They lost their spark. They lost their enigma.

They lost themselves.

And they weren't quite in the right place to get it all back.

Get it back? Nikki shook her head now only to relieve herself of the headache as if the harder she shook it the pain would simply drop out of her ears. The bottle was only filled with wine, she noted. But too much wine was enough to make her do something dumber than dumb. She would lost all self-control and make a stupid decision. She could sleep through her alarm or forget to wake Leonardo up.

She pressed herself even harder to remain distracted until she realized that the only thing she truly needed to be distracted from was Dean. Thinking about him, past or present, was intoxicating. And the last thing she needed was to become drunk on him.

So she succumbed to the addiction she had come to know so well. Pouring herself a glass, Nikki lost track of her thoughts and let go of him. At least for the night she wouldn't think about him.

"Screw it," she spat before chugging down the small sample of wine in the bottom of her glass. She placed the glass aside and grabbed the entire bottle before heading over to the couch.

Tonight it was her and the only thing she wanted to think about.

Wine.

* * *

Dean could feel the rush of excitement in the air as he walked through the arena doors. It was SummerSlam all around. Posters, t-shirts, hats and toys were getting autographed left and right and all Dean could do was take in the addicting atmosphere.

That is...until Renee pulled him aside before he could make it to catering.

"What...?" Dean walked alongside the blonde, whose arm was tugging on his, until they reached a secluded spot behind some cable carts. "What's this all about?"

Renee sighed and cleared her face from her gorgeously wavy hair. "You've been impossible to talk with lately. The only time I get you to myself is when I drag you away from other people."

"You do own a phone, right?"

Her face twisted in disbelief. "You're my boyfriend, Dean. I shouldn't have to be the only one to call when I want to see you." Dean looked away because while he understood her grief, he also didn't feel any part of him that cared. "It's hard enough that we don't live together, I don't like having to search for you every time we travel."

Dean's eyebrows raised. "I saw you like, an hour ago when you left our hotel room."

"But you never talk to me. That's what I'm trying to say, I just didn't know how to say it."

"You could've said it just like that, it sounded like English to me."

Renee wanted to be mad at him but she couldn't. She sounded petty and unreasonable, which she never was. It was just that recently things with Dean were distant. He always had something to do and somewhere to be that didn't involve...well, her. They were a private couple as it was and the last thing that she needed was him not wanted to be with her at all.

"I'm sorry," she spoke up after a second of thinking. "That was a weird opener to a conversation."

Dean stood without a cause, staring blankly across the room. The strange tension between them came around when neither of them expected it and consumed them. Maybe it was Nikki, maybe it was Leonardo, or maybe it was just work. Whatever the case was, it was ruining their bond.

"I guess I'm just a bit on edge lately. There's so much going on in the divas' division that I can hardly keep up," she reveals. "I'm not a wrestler and I'm not a valet. I get screen time whenever the writers feel it's alright for another boring interview segment, but now that they're bringing the NXT interviewers up for those so I basically am left with the panels before pay-per-views."

Dean shifted and crossed his arms. "Do you want to wrestle?"

She raised her eyebrows and let out a hearty laugh. "Me? Wrestle?" She continued to laugh as she responded to the hysterical comment. "I just want to be taken seriously for what I actually do."

"Why do you think of yourself wrestling as such a funny topic? You have the looks and the body. All you need is the training."

"It wouldn't be fair to the girls down in NXT if I just hopped on the wagon as it passed through," she responded. "Besides, I'm terrified of breaking a finger let alone a neck."

He looked at her with disbelief. "You're a touch chick, Renee. Why don't I talk to Nikki and ask her to show you some pointers?"

Renee's face contorted with confusion and her right foot found its way back just a bit. "Nikki? Since when do you, of all people, talk to Nikki?"

Smooth, jackass.

Dean opened his mouth to speak but couldn't find any words to explain himself. Something in the pit of his stomach told him to just suck it up and tell her already, but he didn't. He couldn't. He wouldn't.

"I met her kid the other day and signed an autograph and whatnot." Not a lie. "She said that she would be around in case I needed something." Sort of a lie. "That's all." Complete lie. "I'm sure she wouldn't mind training you if I asked."

Renee believed him. After all, he hadn't exactly shown any signs of betrayal yet so she didn't have much of a choice. "Well, don't worry about it. I'm sure I can weasel my way back to being the primary announcer," she said with a chuckle.

"Okay," he said, almost too quickly out of nerves.

She nodded. "Good luck tonight." Reaching up, Renee wrapped her arms around Dean's neck and gave him a tight hug. "I'm sure you'll do great." As she slowly pulled away she made sure to press her lips roughly against his. She missed their moments of bliss. They were rare and far in between, especially since they were so private about their relationship, but wonderful nonetheless.

Once she finished kissing him she turned and walked away, leaving Dean speechless. Not from the kiss but from the entire conversation. He had no idea how much longer he could keep up the charade. Not even their kisses felt the same. How she could go on without a thought as to what was really going on was killing Dean.

Maybe it would be easier if she just found out on her own... At least, it would be easier on him.


	13. SummerSlam - Part I

**SummerSlam 2015**

Dean walked around the arena twice before heading toward the gorilla position. He wasn't nervous, in fact he rarely got nervous before a match anymore. Wrestling came easily to him now, as long as his opponent knew what he was doing, and so whenever he heard his music hit and the crowd chanting his name all he felt was adrenaline.

Besides, there was no time to be nervous.

Tonight wasn't a big night. Unless, of course, you took into consideration that it's one of the biggest pay-per-views of the year and quite possibly the most viewed sports event of the summer that is. Dean and Roman were taking on the Wyatt Family. It wasn't some giant surprise; everybody could see their lasting rivalry from miles away. But he would still do his best.

He still felt the need to prove himself to everybody: to the entire world. And it wasn't easy to do.

Eventually he found his way to the gorilla position and began to do some quick warm-ups. He hadn't finished his last set of push-ups before he heard a gruff voice greet him from above.

"Already breaking a sweat, huh? We can't have you passing out in the middle of our match."

Dean looked up before standing on his feet. "What's up, brother?" They did a strange handshake-hug-thing before pulling away. "Don't you have to enter by the stairs or something?"

"I knew you'd be down here warming up so I thought I'd do a pre-match check in to see how you're doing."

Dean burrowed his eyebrows with wonder. "How I'm doing?"

Roman cleared his throat and folded his muscular arms. "Word around the locker room as heated up. Some of the divas saw you and Renee argue outside the catering section and thought they should spread the news that you two were on the rocks."

He scoffed. "This is exactly why I like to keep my personal life private."

"So, it's true then?"

"What did you hear?"

"That you two called it," Roman replied simply, with no emotion hidden beneath his words. He wasn't the touchy-feely person anyways. That was Seth's job.

Dean took a second to contain his anger. Lashing out at his friends wasn't a good idea and he was aware of that. He just needed a second to control the itch of anger that threatened to creep up on him at any given moment. "We're still together."

Roman nodded before raking a finger through his wet locks. "From what I heard it sounded like a serious argument."

"It wasn't," he argued. "It was a discussion: a private discussion."

With the emphasis landing on _private,_ Roman knew where he stood on the matter. Another nod was followed by a swift spin on his heels and he was off down the hall. Getting into an argument with his tag team partner didn't sound like an easy start to their match.

Dean watched as his partner walked away and then took some time to adjust the tape around his wrists. It could never be tight enough to him. He wanted to feel the blood pulsing throughout his fingers and causing his fingertips to pound every time he forced them into a fist.

His thoughts were taking his focus away from what mattered. This match was more important than any idiotic need to tape his fingers so tight that they could fall off at any given moment. This match needed his full attention, from beginning to end.

But then, of course, another familiar voice - this time much, much more feminine - came from behind him. "Dean?"

Dean turned around so quickly that the air around him barely had time to move with him. "Nikki," he said with a forcefully unamused tone. "Can I help you?"

Clearing her throat, the brunette pushed a strand of hair from her dolled face. "I just wanted to wish you good luck on your match."

"Really?" Pretending not to care, Dean began to mess with the tape on his wrists again. He didn't remove any of it, but rather twisted his wrists around in circles. "You sound like this was something you were forced to do."

"Brie thought it would be a nice thing to do." She bit her bottom lip and looked up at him, finally making eye contact with his baby blues. "Brie's always telling me what to do."

"It is a nice thing," he comforted. "It's just weird."

"Well, we _are_ going to be seeing a lot more of each other from here on out so we might as well get on the same page."

Dean nodded and dropped his hands down to his side. "In that case, thanks."

Nikki smiled and turned to leave. Her feet moved slowly but her mind was racing nearly as fast as her heart. Why was she so nervous about that? There were no underlying mutual feelings stinging the back of her brain that she needed to spend hours discussing with her therapist. At least, none that she would admit to having. Besides that, she respected the unspoken boundary separating them. Renee was still a part of his life.

She needed to get that through her confused skull.

Dean couldn't move. Not even after her heard the music-player-person tell him that it was his time to enter the arena. He couldn't move until she turned the corner and was out of his direct eye line. She was this mesmerizing creature that he would willingly spend years staring at.

"Crap," he muttered under his breath as those thoughts crossed his mind. "Crap, crap, crap, crap, shit."

* * *

Nikki watched intently as Dean's match came to a close. She'd spent the entire length of the match covering her mouth every time the man did something stupid. Leonardo, on the other hand, spent the time to notate the moves. He even got up a few times to point at the screen to show his mother, as if she had no idea what was going on, what each move was called.

"Alright, alright." Nikki chuckled to relieve the compressed tension in her shoulders. "I get it. You're a wrestling expert. Now sit down already."

Leonardo did as she asked just as the match finished. "Seriously? I could've told that it was coming," he complained.

The woman shook her head and stood up. She loved it when he got so into the matches. It was just the man running the match that made her squirm. "You'll be a good kid for Nattie, right?"

Leonardo looked over at the blonde as she entered the room. "I guess."

Natalya smiled. She was finally getting the one-on-one time with her best friend's son that she'd wanted since she found out of his existence. "Hey, Leonardo! We're going to have fun watching your mom's match tonight, aren't we?"

"Sure," he said with a shrug. "We'll see if it tops my Dad's-"

"His dad's favorite!" Nikki interjected as she turned sharply to face Natalya. "I told him that his dad's favorite match of all time was André the Giant and Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania," she lied.

Natalya's eyebrows were up but her flag wasn't. "Well I'm sure that your match is going to be just as exciting."

"Doubt it," Leonardo teased. He planted himself on the couch and glued his eyes to the screen as he awaited the rest of the event.

Nikki rolled her eyes, thanked Natalya, and then exited the room. She had no idea where Brie or Alicia was, but she needed to find them soon. They needed to go over some last minute details before their match.

She sighed as she walked down the hall alone. She couldn't believe how close they had gotten to spilling their secret to Natalya. Leonardo was never that careless, and neither was she.

Is this what her life has become? Lying to her closest friend and pretending that her relationship with Dean never happened? How is that fair? She never asked to become a part of this invisible triangle that connected her, Leonardo, and Dean together. All she ever wanted was to fall in love and have a family.

Not a broken one.

She turned the corner and was immediately blocked by the WWE's camera crew as they stormed past her to make it to the interview area. Renee Young was preparing for an interview with someone, it wasn't clear yet who, but Nikki couldn't get past them until it was over. Karma, probably, for thinking about her boyfriend the way she had been.

How could she not think about Dean, though? He was the father of her child, her former husband and love of her life. Those things are irreplaceable.

But, Nikki knew that if the tables were turned and Renee were Leonardo's mother and Dean's ex-wife, Nikki wouldn't be able to handle the news of her boyfriend's offspring also belonging to a co-worker. How could a couple survive that kind of news? The odds of them staying together once the news broke was narrowing in on zero.

Nikki's eyes lit up subconsciously. Dean and Renee wouldn't last once the news broke about Dean's paternity.

What would that leave her? There were no obvious signs that Dean was interested in rekindling their old flame. If she ran onto the scene and broke them apart, what good would that do for her? She could be left single and Leonardo could be left completely fatherless. What kind of a mother would do that to her son?

Renee never saw Nikki. She continued to stand still as a woman touched up her make-up and someone messed with her hair. Nikki could only watch in awe. That's who Dean loved. Dean _loved_ her. She had a strong connection to her, even if Renee couldn't feel it too.

They both had felt what it's like to be loved by none other than Dean Ambrose. And, boy, what a connection that was.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Short chapter, but this will be two parts and I wanted to get this first part up as soon as possible.


	14. SummerSlam - Part II

**SummerSlam 2015**

Nikki paced back and forth until the soles of her shoes were embedded in the concrete beneath her. She lost track of time and didn't know whether she should be as nervous as she was or not. She'd been in hundreds of matches, live or not, and she had the championship resting on her shoulder. Her name etched in the metallic plate on the cover of her belt, Nikki felt more pride in her work than she ever had before.

At least, more than when her reign as champ only lasted a week.

Her prestigious belt weighed down her bones as she relentlessly paced the hall. How could she be so nervous? The match would be anything less than noteworthy: a simple cheap shot at furthering the so-called "Divas Revolution." If she had any say in what she did, her promos would be detailed and full of twists, her character would be the worst bad guy on screen, and her matches would never bore.

All Nikki could do was sit and wait for the day the odds were back in her favor. But, until then, all she could do was attempt to settle the aching in her belly.

Was it because she saw Renee earlier? Nikki shook her head: it couldn't be! Her relationship with Dean was as innocent as one could be with an ex. They had only spoken in regards to their son, besides the friendly wish full of luck prior to his own match, and their conversations were brief and bland. So, seeing his girlfriend around the arena shouldn't have sent her into mild shellshock.

Perhaps it was the near tongue slip from her son's mouth to Natalya's curious ears. While Leonardo's frenetic personality was usually overcast by his sense of logic, he occasionally lost perspective of other's needs.

And the only thing Nikki needed was to keep her past where it laid.

"Quit pacing already, you're burning holes in the ground."

Nikki jumped at the sudden exclamation. "Brie," she seethed as she spun around, "Alicia... Where have you two been? Our match is going to start any minute now!"

"Calm down!" Brie held her hands out in defense before her eyes shot up and her foot landed behind her. "We were looking for you."

"And then we ran into little Leo and I couldn't help myself. He's so adorable," Alicia cooed. "How the hell did you keep him from me this whole time?"

The twins shared a secretive glance before Nikki cleared her throat. "It's a long, uninteresting story. But I'm serious about our match, we really have to go."

Brie rolled her eyes and followed her sister with Alicia in tow. The team strutted down the hall with Nikki's eyebrows arched high above the clouds. She suddenly forgot what her worrisome attitude from before was about. She wasn't afraid to show the world who she was. She was Nikki-effin'-Ambrose. Wait...

Nikki stopped in her tracks. _Bella. Nikki-effin'-Bella._

"Something wrong, again?" Brie asked, feigning concern. She knew her sister's dramatic tendencies.

Adjusting the championship on her shoulder once more, Nikki looked up from the ground. "I'm Nikki-effin'-Bella."

* * *

"Did you see that!?" Leonardo jumped from his chair and pointed at the screen where his mother projected from. She'd hit Sasha Banks with a right forearm, but the latter managed to kick out, only causing the young boy more grief. "She almost had her!"

Natalya smiled through the tension on her cheeks. It should be her out there, at least that's how she viewed it. And the fact that Nikki prepared her to be Leonardo's babysitter for her match only aroused more strain. She deserved so much more.

Another epic scream escaped Leonardo's young mouth when Sasha locked Nikki in her special submissive move, only to be stopped by his aunt, Brie. The outburst sent Natalya over the edge. Standing from her seat on the couch beside him, the blonde sighed.

"Do you think it would be alright with your mom if I stepped out for a minute to go to the restroom?"

Leonardo, who himself never quite grew fond of the blonde, shrugged. "I won't tell her."

Natalya smiled and excused herself, being sure to close the door behind her. If she was ditching the poor kid, the least she could do was insure that he didn't wander off and get lost.

With every ounce of honesty he could offer, Leonardo gladly sat back in peace. He did better when he watched wrestling alone. If gave him a chance to truly critique the movements and study the coordination. The wrestlers had a grace to their swift steps. Their exemplary dance brought a light to his rounded eyes.

There was nothing he could imagine his parents doing besides wrestling. Since learning of Dean and their relation, Leonardo almost felt dumb for not making a connection earlier. With his passion for the business and his sense of pride in it, there couldn't be a better explanation for his DNA.

His eyes returned to the screen and he impatiently watched the match continue as his mother had tagged herself out already. He loved the business so he didn't refuse to watch other Divas, but he always did find joy in seeing his flesh and blood compete in the squared circle.

Having never really paid much attention to the thought of becoming a wrestler himself, Leonardo just enjoyed witnessing the unfolding of storylines on screen. Especially now that he understood his blood connection.

Leonardo was just beginning to become comfortable when the door swung open aggressively. Looking up, the young child was confused. "Renee Young?"

Renee smiled at him. "You must be Leonardo."

"That's what they call me," he responded with a nod. "What can I do for you, Renee?"

The blonde smiled even brighter and walked toward him, sitting on the edge of the couch, careful not to intrude his space. "I was actually hoping we could chat for a bit. I talked with your mom the other day, but I've never gotten the pleasure of meeting the person she gushed about in our interview."

"Gushed?" Leonardo's face contorted in disgust. "Gross word. But, sure."

Refraining from coming across as too creepy, Renee dropped her smile gently. "So... What's it like being a male Bella?"

The boy shrugged. "It's okay, I guess. I don't really have anything to compare it too."

Renee's smile temporarily returned at his witty remark. "That's very true. But, in terms of your lifestyle and whatnot, how does it compare to that of your friends? Do you they know about your mom?"

"They do now. My mom never really met any of my friends before she told everyone about me, but my nanny did. Her name is Nina. She's the greatest."

"I'm sure she is," she said with a quiet chuckle. "And the kids at your school...they're adjusting to this too, I bet."

"Define adjusting," he asked.

"How are they reacting to this announcement?"

The boy shrugged, again. "Most of them just ask me if it's true and then some of them don't believe me. And then there's the sad kids who don't know what wrestling is and think that my mom is just some really famous actress or something. So, I guess they're adjusting fine."

Renee, to say the least, was shocked. Leonardo was a well-rounded, wise, young boy. He talked with sharp diction and thought on his feet well enough to run for president one day. It wasn't doubtful that he might.

Leonardo filled the pause with a question of his own. "Aren't you dating Dean Ambrose?"

Renee raised her eyebrows. She was surprised - even though she'd publically announced their relationship - to hear someone younger than the age of fifteen ask that question. "Dean Ambrose..."

"You don't technically have to answer, I already know that you are."

The blonde's eyebrows never settled. With his persistent attitude, Renee didn't know if he would ask her any more personal questions or if he'd allow her to do her journalistic duties to ask some herself.

* * *

Nikki's match ended well, despite not pulling off a victory. The woman remained at the top of her division with the title around her waist and that was all she cared about.

Well, that and Leonardo, of course.

After her match, Nikki needed to walk it off before heading back to her room Leonardo and Natalya were in. She needed some fresh air. Of course, having no idea where an exit was, Nikki wandered around the arena for a while before finding one that she felt comfortable walking out into the night through.

The warm air immediately filled her lungs and have her skin tiny goose bumps of pleasure. Even with the sweat down her back, the heat surrounding her provided a comfortable coat over her exhausted body.

However, the pleasure only lasted long enough to be spoiled by the scent of cigarette smoke.

Turning her head to the direction of the smoke, Nikki didn't contain her eye rolling. But, it wasn't until her head was turned completely and she realized that the smoker had the nerve to approach her and was standing, towering over her body, that she become contemptuous.

"Excuse me? Who do you think you are?"

With a quick puff of gray air, Dean Ambrose smirked through the smoke and surrendered a step back. "Calm down, Princess. It's just me."

Nikki couldn't figure this man out. One minute he was mature and calm, and the next he was being his annoying, obnoxious self. "That was so gross," she says with a rough cough. "Why would you do that?"

Dean chuckled before dropping the cigarette to the floor and stomping it out. "Happy?"

"No promises after I find out that I'm dying of lung cancer from secondhand smoke."

He was smirking at the woman as she waved her manicured hands through the air to erase the remnants of his addiction. "You carry that belt with you everywhere you go?" Dean pointed at the shiny title on her shoulder.

Nikki, adjusting it to fit better, pursed her lips. "I want people to see how important it is to me."

"No," he retorted, "Nikki Bella doesn't find anything too important to lug around unless it has a price tag. We all know the real reason you drag that piece of metal around."

Crossing her arms, the champion popped her hip out to the side. "Oh, really?"

He nodded and walked a little closer to her, simply to make a statement. "Respect."

His body, once again, was towering over hers. Their eyes were locked and his breath still hinted towards a smoky aftertaste. Nikki could feel his lips touching hers despite the gap between them. How, after all this time, she still remembered the lingering of his skin on hers was beyond her imagination.

For the first time in weeks, Nikki had no discomfort around him. Not even the miserable scent of nicotine was enough to send her spine down an aching path back to her locker room. She wasn't ready to leave yet. He captivated her.

Dean, on the other hand, had no thought process about what was happening. He wanted to kiss her, absolutely, but he also didn't want to kiss her. Kissing her made whatever their arrangement was, real. Their marriage - real. Their annulment - real. Their jobs - real. Leonardo - very real. And not kissing her would make the non-Nikki part of his heart happy. Even if that part was slowly dwindling in size.

Nikki fought the urge to wrap her body around his like it was a war. Her mind was a filled textbook of lessons and problems, ones she didn't understand or couldn't figure out. The solutions covered pages and pages of that textbook, but she wasn't quite ready to check her answers.

Because sometimes fighting through the problem is the part that excites her. Fighting through the frustrating rush of adrenaline and pushing past the steps she takes as she completes them, it launches her to a new millennium of anticipation.

"Do you respect me?"

His jaw clenched and he couldn't feel his toes. Why did she think this was a good idea? "I haven't found a reason to."

"Raising your son wasn't enough?"

"I didn't have a choice in that, Darling."

Another name and she would have been putty in his hands, but she remained strong. "Keep saying it, and maybe I'll even start to believe it too."

Flipping her hair over her shoulders, Nikki waltzed back inside. He might have not admitted to leaving her, but she knew the truth. He did have a choice when it came to Leonardo.

He just made the wrong one.

* * *

This was both a killer and a joy to write. I hope that you all enjoyed! I know that I've been absent lately, but hopefully I'll be able to get some drafts for future chapters ready so that no one has to wait too long before the next updates.

Thanks so much for the reviews on the previous chapter! Let me know your thoughts!

With love. :)


	15. Ten Years in the Making

_May 16th, 2004_

 _She was doing her best not to think about the slim band on her ring finger as her lips slid across his bare chest. They were married. M-A-R-R-I-E-D. Married. It wasn't a scam, or even a practical joke: partly because it wasn't the slightest bit practical. They were husband and wife._

 _And it gave Nikki the oddest churn in her stomach._

 _Every time her lips touched his skin, the pain in her abdomen vanished before popping back up when they parted. She wanted air, but the room key they managed to find before running off and eloping had already found its way into some unknown dimension. And she had a strong sense that if she appeared uneasy about their decision, running out would only cause Dean to leave her himself._

 _Breaking their contact, Nikki fell back onto the bed and rested her head on the pillow. A rush of cool air came over her naked body and she sighed._

 _Dean, who hadn't fully processed their union, turned over to look at the shocked expression on her face. "Did I do something wrong?"_

 _"No," she muttered and pulled up the sheets. "I just...I just think what we did might have been wrong."_

 _"You weren't saying that about five minutes ago..."_

 _Nikki rolled over to her side before Dean's lips could crash down onto her shoulder. Sitting on the edge of the bed, Nikki stared off at the wall. "My parents are going to kill me when I tell them."_

 _"I thought your dad wasn't in the picture."_

 _"He isn't, really. But my mom is. My sister and brother would have a field day with this information and I probably won't get to go to California."_

 _Dean's eyes held back a concerned glare. "California? You're still going?"_

 _"Of course I'm going," she reassured. "My sister and I are heading out there, looking for jobs. I'm only here because I'm saying goodbye to my friends, remember?"_

 _"I just thought that, you know, since everything that's happened you'd want to stick around."_

 _"Stick around Las Vegas?" Nikki chuckled at the idea before shaking her head. "That's the last thing I feel like doing. I'm planning big. I want to see my name in lights."_

 _Dean wasn't sure how to react. But, for the moment, she wasn't concerned about their marriage. She was thinking about something good, something that could distract her from their realistic situation._

 _Walking over to her on his knees, Dean finally kissed her tan shoulder. "Your name would look beautiful in lights."_

* * *

September 20th, 2015

Nikki held back a scream as she threw her water bottle on the floor.

"Nicole," Brie called out in the calmest voice she could manage. "It's alright, Nicole."

"It's alright?" Nikki turned to her sister and raked a hand through her highlighted hair, ripping her ponytail out. "It's alright? I just lost my title and all you have to say is 'it's alright'? Where's your reign, Brie? Where's your 300 day reign?"

Brie watched as her sister slid down to the floor before kneeling over and sitting beside her. "I'm going to ignore your insults and pretend that you're not kicking and screaming."

"I'm _not_ kicking and screaming. I'm pissed. I'm the one who should be carrying the title, not Charlotte. The only reason she's the champ is because her father is Ric Flair."

Clearing her throat, Brie situated herself so that she was facing her sister's side. "You do realize that there's a group of idiots out there who say that same thing about you and Cena."

"Cena and I aren't together," she reminded.

"I know that. But you were when you won the title." Brie sighed and waited for her sister to speak. Nikki couldn't speak - she was too upset. "Life goes on, Nikki."

"To what? People are going to look at me and see exactly what I didn't want them to see: a woman who used to have a title and kept her son a secret because she never told her family that she was married." Nikki shook her head and covered her eyes with her hands. "I just want to be a legend."

The former champion becomes caught off-guard as her sister unleashes a childish laugh. Brie couldn't contain herself.

"What the hell?" Nikki asks, clearly offended.

Shaking her head, Brie compels herself to explain. "You're Nikki-effin'-Bella. You're the mother of a freakishly smart kid who loves the crap out of you. You're part of a historic stable, the Bella Twins. And, you held that title for 300 and something days." Her laugh, having already subsided, returned for a quick chuckle. "You are a living legend."

How she was so inspirational, Nikki would never understand about her sister. She could turn the worst possible situation into something positive and Nikki would believe her. Although, she was having trouble fully agreeing on her opinions in this case.

Nikki turned to her sister and opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the door as it swung open.

"Sorry," Renee Young said sweetly. Propping the door open with her hand, Renee cleared her throat. "Stephanie wanted me to come get you for an interview."

There was something boiling in Nikki's blood. Just seeing the cheerful face on Renee caused a tsunami to turn over the former champion's insides. Why was she so angry to see her? Renee had nothing to do with her loss. At least, her title loss.

"We're coming," Brie agreed.

"It would just be Nikki." Renee held back another smile. She didn't mind being assertive, but these maladroit situations gave her an odd feeling. "If that's alright," she mentioned.

Nikki hesitated. The thought of talking with her brought unbelievable rage to her. "Sure," she agreed before standing up and waltzing out the door. They was a camera crew already set up down the hall so Nikki reluctantly made her way after Renee toward the blinding lights.

"Alright, we're ready when you are."

Nikki looked up at the man behind the camera who said that and nodded. "Will this be live?" The same man nodded in response. "I'm ready."

Renee plastered a sincere expression on her face and awaited the signal for her to begin. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I am here with your, now former, Divas Champion. Nikki, how does it feel to lose your title to Charlotte after such a long reign as champion?"

Every word only made Nikki's anger grow. "It sucks," she stated simply.

"Do you care to elaborate?"

 _Who does this bitch think she is?_ Nikki swallowed her anxiety and looked up into Renee's eyes. "I'm pissed. I'm pissed that some girl from NXT can march her way up the ranks and take away _my_ title just because her father is Ric Flair."

"Nikki-"

"And, you know what else? I'm pissed that I even had to be in a match with her. She doesn't deserve to fight me. She doesn't deserve to wear that title. The only thing she deserves is to go back down to her rookie grounds and leave me the hell alone."

Renee could sense some tension building between the two of them. And she could tell that it was because of more than just her loss. "Nikki, do you think you're going to use your rematch clause?"

The woman in question scoffed. "Are you kidding me? Of course I'm going to use my rematch clause. And when I do, I'm going to make sure that Charlotte, along with everybody else in the WWE universe, knows exactly who I am."

"Thank you for your time, Nikki."

There was no time for Nikki to think. Their interview was ending and she still had a load of anger resting on her shoulders. "Thanks for pulling me away from my sister to have some mediocre interview, Renee. Be sure to tell Dean I said hi," she spat before turning on her heels and going straight back to her locker room.

Renee stood in front of the camera, dumbfounded. The light eventually turned off and she was too shocked to conclude her segment. All she could do was sit and watch the woman storm off, slamming the door behind her.

"What was that?" The same man from before asked as he dropped his camera down to his side.

Renee couldn't believe what just happened. In front of the entire world, Nikki Bella broke kayfabe and threatened her own career. "I have absolutely no idea."

* * *

Dean saw the words spill from Nikki's mouth and had no way of stopping them from passing through the airwaves.

 _What was she thinking?_

His bags were already packed and he knew that within seconds Renee would come bursting through the door, complaining about the interview from her perspective, so he dashed out the door and down the hall. Most of the champions got their own dressing rooms, and since Nikki was technically the champion when she was given the locker room, he knew she would be alone.

Dean had no clue as to what he was going to say: he just needed to say something. Maybe it was for looks. Dean Ambrose defending his girlfriend, Renee Young, after a brutal verbal assault by former Divas Champion, Nikki Bella... He could already hear it ringing around the locker room and beyond.

Or, perhaps it was for a different reason. He finally had a reason to confront the woman in public without too many questions being raised. It was a perfect scenario.

His feet were going too fast for his head to handle and by the time he reached the woman's door, he couldn't think of anything to do. Rather than knocking, he took a chance and pushed the door wide open.

"Dean?"

Dean looked at the woman who was still sitting in her ring attire. Mascara was smudged under her wet eyes and the room was completely empty besides the half-empty suitcase on the floor and the chair she was sitting in.

"What do you want?" Nikki's voice cracked slightly and she sniffled as she wiped her cheeks.

"You did something stupid," he stated simply.

Nikki scoffed and tossed her head back. "I'm always doing something stupid." She looked down at her hands and shook her head. "It's practically what I'm known for nowadays."

His chest ached and he couldn't figure out why. He was so motivated to yell at her for making a fool of herself, but seeing how badly she'd already beaten herself up only made him question those motives. "Why are you crying?"

Clearing her throat, Nikki stood up and ran her hands across her lap, brushing the wetness from her tears off of her tights. "I lost my title. The only thing I had going for me in this company, I lost."

"That's pathetic," he said.

"You don't understand," she retorted. She didn't even care if her words were going to offend him, she just wanted to say them. "You don't know what it's like to hold the entire division in the palm of your hands. That title showed the world who I was. It showed everybody that I was more than just a Total Diva." Another tear escaped her eye and she shrugged gently. "I was a fighter."

"And you think the only way for the world to see who you are is to wear some shiny belt?" He shook his head and gestured to his waist. "I don't have a shiny belt and people still know who I am."

"Dean-"

"No," he interrupted. "No, you don't get to say that you're worthless or whatever and then treat Renee like it was her fault."

Nikki hadn't fully comprehended the things she said to Renee before. "I didn't insult her."

"You were rude."

"Oh, spare me. You're the rudest person I know."

"And even I think that what you said was wrong," he announced. "You had no right-"

"To what? Speak my mind? Because the last time I checked, you were the one with no right to come near me and tell me what to do."

Dean began to breathe heavily. He had never seen her this upset. Watching her unfold the way she was only made him wonder about what she went through when they broke up and she was forced to raise their son alone. He'd never considered what that must have been like for her.

Unsure of how to respond, Dean slowly began walking toward her. "I didn't want to hurt you..."

Nikki scoffed again, this time altering it into an unamused chuckle. "Of course you didn't! You just didn't want to be with me anymore so you packed your bags and disappeared before I could wake up."

"I was scared-"

"It was your idea to marry me! I was the one who said it was a bad idea and you pushed me into doing it." Nikki continued to pour out her heart without any tears shedding, amazing her. "You made me fall in love with you and now you're coming around and making it harder for me to stay away!"

"You never had to tell me about Leonardo."

"I didn't have a choice," she explained. Exhaustion from the day was settling in her bones and she had to take deep breaths to calm herself. "And now you both want each other in your lives and I don't know what to do because I'm stuck in the middle of it all!"

Dean was curious. "Stuck in the middle of what?"

There must have been something in the water she drank that night because she couldn't control herself from speaking her mind. "In the middle of choosing what's right and what's wrong."

Something became lodged in Dean's throat and he suddenly couldn't breathe. "What's right?"

"Keeping my distance." Nikki looked up into his piercing blue eyes and held her own breath. "Keeping whatever is going on between us from surfacing. Protecting myself, Leonardo, and Renee."

Not even the sound of his doting girlfriend's name could pull him away from the yearning he felt to hold Nikki in his arms. It had been years since they were together, so vulnerable and emotionally exposed. He could only imagine how bold it would feel after all the distance.

Dean had managed to walk closer to the brunette, invading the space she'd kept for herself. "And, what's wrong?"

She was melting. Her entire body wanted him: heart, brain, and soul all at once. Her conscience had already gone to sleep for the night, and so had Brie. For the moment it was just them.

"You," she answered in the weakest voice she could manage.

Any air that separated them disappeared. Dean couldn't fight it any longer. He needed to feel her once more. Cupping the back of her neck, Dean pulled the brunette forward and crashed his lips onto hers.

Nikki had no reason - that seemed plausible in the moment - to push him away. She wrapped her left around the back of his neck and gripped his shoulder, allowing her other hand to tug on his leather jacket. Dean, who never knew how to keep away, held her hips sturdy with his free hand and gave his mouth the rights to roam her lips freely.

Heat radiated off their bodies and eventually Dean managed to walk her over to the wall where he pressed her back up against the cool tiles. Gently, Nikki's hands nudged Dean's jacket off, exposing the white tank-top he wore every week to the ring. Eventually, both of their pants were on the floor and it was too late for them to stop. But, they didn't care.

It was ten years in the making, and no excuses could tears them apart.

Nikki didn't mind being pressed up against the wall because she was with him. Years passed and he felt better than before. His lips were rougher and his hands stronger, but he was the same. Her lips were softer and her curves were dangerously smooth, but her heart was still pounding just as hard against her chest.

Dean continued to catch Nikki's pleasured moans with a deep kiss, muffling the sound. Her arms were wrapped around his neck, pulling him as close to her as she could get him. How did she not feel any guilt?

As they came to an end, their breath syncopated to their beating hearts and Nikki slipped down from his grasp. They remained staring at each other with gentle eyes that appeared to long for even more.

Nikki couldn't register what had happened as she stood there, Dean towering over her. His arms were on either side of her head, palms resting on the tile above her. She couldn't even force a smile. Her chest was suddenly filled with fear that nearly took the strength right from her legs.

She used her arm to bring his down and limped over to her suitcase where she slipped on a pair of gray sweatpants. Zipping up her bag quickly, Nikki couldn't even speak.

"Nicole," he spoke, forcing it to sound sweet.

Looking up from her bag, Nikki shook her head. Tugging a strand of hair behind her ear, she left the room without a word. How could she have been so stupid?

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Well...I told you there would be twists. And, for the record, that right there is about the dirtiest my writing will ever get. I was even getting uncomfortable but I pushed through because I knew there were so many of you guys who wanted some Nikkirose action. And I wanted to write something like this because I reached 100 reviews on this story! I'm so grateful for each and every one of you! And, as always, I promise to make every chapter as full of surprises and plot twists as I can.

Thank you so much! Let me know your thoughts!

With love. :)


	16. Health

Not even an entire bottle of wine could make Nikki forget her encounter with Dean.

She couldn't sleep at all. Lying in her hotel bed, she glanced at her phone and noticed that it was only four in the morning, which meant she would have to be up and ready for the day in less than two hours. Realizing there was no time for sleep, she sat up.

Nikki looked around the room at the silent darkness. Leonardo was back at home with Nina and Brie had her own room down the hall. All Nikki could do was sit there and listen to her thoughts.

She couldn't shake the feeling of Dean's lips wrapped around hers, or his fingers gliding up her legs. She couldn't mask the small smile that formed on her face every time she felt it again. But she also couldn't shake the guilt.

She could only imagine how Renee would feel if she found out. Betrayed. Furious. Worthless. Broken. They were all feelings Nikki had when Dean found their hotel door easier to get through than their marriage.

Nikki sighed. Every touch she remembered was linked to one from her past. One from their marriage that only lasted two weeks. One from their short and sweet vacation from life. He felt the exact same, besides the subtle changes to his physique.

Resting her head against the pillows, Nikki closed her eyes. She needed to try and get some sleep, even if was just for two hours. As her eyes remained shut tight, a weak knock sounded from across the room. Her eyes shot open and her heart leapt to her throat. Was it Renee? Did Dean already admit to their sin? Shaking her head, Nikki sat up and took deep, controlled breaths.

She rolled out of bed and took the white robe from the chair next to her bed and wrapped it around her body. The nerves in her body were shaking rapidly, causing her lips to quiver with fear. What would she do?

Slowly turning the door knob and pulling the door open, Nikki was met with the same piercing blue eyes that were stuck in her head. "You shouldn't be here," she stated.

Dean nodded and stuck his hands in his jean pockets. "I know."

"Then what are you doing? Why aren't you with Renee?"

"She's back in the room. I couldn't sleep," he admitted. "I just...I just-"

"Can't get you out of my head," she finished his sentence with her own confession. "I know." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and gulped silently. "I feel the same way."

Dean chuckled quietly and shook his head. "Why is this so hard?"

"Because you're in love with Renee," she offered.

Every time he heard that woman's name he felt guiltier and guiltier. But, with Nikki he had no objectivity. She made him feel suddenly effusive. There was no chance that he could control how he felt around her. His emotions were filling his heart to the brim and eventually, usually in her presence, they overflowed.

Dean sighed. "But, what about you and Leonardo?"

Nikki tightened her arms around her waist, making sure her robe didn't fall open. "We'll be fine. We've been fine so far."

"But, I don't want that. He's my son too, Nicole."

"It's Nikki," she reminded him. "And I don't think I can be around you and not be _with_ you."

"I...I don't want that." Dean felt powerless all of the sudden, like he would do whatever Nikki asked of him without wanting to. "I can't let you two go again."

With an overwhelming need to comfort, Nikki walked closer to him and laid a hand on his arm. "You wouldn't be letting us go. You'd be doing something right by all of us. Easing whatever this is between us and keeping Renee happy."

"I don't care about Renee," he said, all too simply.

"Dean..."

"I don't," he repeated, "I don't. I care about Leonardo. I want what's best for him." He sighed and brought his hand from his pocket to gently caress Nikki's smooth cheek. "I care about you, Nicole. I have no idea what you've done to me, but I can't let you go and I'm not going to." He brought her face up so they were once again staring into one another's eyes. "Not again."

She fell deeply for those baby blues with each glance. Her own diamonds traced the outlines of his face and her mind felt suddenly powerless to control her movements. Nikki is a careful person under normal circumstances. She maintains her stability with grace and sharp insight. But in front of him, there was no telling what would happen to her. The numbing in her toes mixed with the panic in her chest was inevitably present; however, her mind remained intuitive amongst the odds.

Respect for Renee remained despite the torturous words Nikki spewed in her direction.

"I...I can't. We can't," she equivocated, stepping back through the opened door until the threshold separated them. "We can't be this way. It isn't healthy."

"Since when does healthy attract you? Our first date consisted of chain-smoking behind a strip club and our wedding dinner was half of a stolen burrito from a random hotel buffet." Dean returned until they were once again invading one another's space. "We define 'unhealthy'."

Nikki nearly succumbed to the past's tempting taste. "No," she persisted with a shake of her head. "No, we don't. Or, at least we can't. Not anymore. Not now that we have Leonardo to think about."

"You don't think he would love to see his parents back together?" Dean scoffed. "The kid would relish in the thought."

"And he would never learn to accept the reality of this world. We aren't real."

"We could be," he suggested.

"But we aren't." Nikki paused to rethink what she was about to say. "Not as long as you're still in a relationship with someone else."

Something prevented him from pronouncing his desire to break away from the blonde who slept only a few floors above them. Right under her nose he was speaking to the one woman she ranted for an hour about before falling asleep. Right under her nose he was admitting to the need for a relationship _to someone else_. Someone that isn't even new.

If only Renee could smell what was happening. Then, everything would be much easier, much quicker.

"You should go back to Renee," Nikki advised. "She's probably searching around the entire hotel for you right now."

Dean's heart suddenly couldn't beat. She was dismissing him just as easily as he'd dismissed her all those years ago. Sure, it was a different time and place, but he could only imagine how badly it hurt when the tables were turned.

"What does this mean for Leonardo?"

Nikki shrugged and pushed a chuckle out of her sore throat. "He still wants to see you this weekend, and if we want to put everything back in its normal place, then I'm not going to take his father away."

Dean's shoulders eased with relief. With no retraction, he'd grown fond of the boy. But there was a burning question that lingered throughout his veins and refused to stop tingling his nerves. "What about tonight? How am I supposed to push past what we did?"

The question only made Nikki's insides ache more for the grazing of his fingertips upon her skin. She wanted to be with him more than she even realized at the time, but her intellect proved her heart wrong every time. How could this be any different?

"You just have to forget it. It can't happen again and it won't."

Dean nodded but wanted to grip her shoulders and shake her with fury. But, he didn't have a choice. He was an ambiguous man and she was his polar opposite. How they ever worked was a question for the Gods, and he wasn't planning on asking them anytime soon.

* * *

With a prey's hesitation, Nikki opened her front door to an equally maladroit smile upon Dean's cheeks. It wasn't too cold out and he was already covering his semi-dirty hair with a black beanie, his muscular arms with a classic leather jacket, and his toned legs with denim jeans.

Dean Ambrose was more than a character. It was apparent to be a lifestyle for the man himself as well.

"Hey, Dad."

Dean looked past the beautiful woman in front of him at the short kid wearing a John Cena t-shirt. With wide eyes and arched brows, Dean glanced condescendingly at the attire.

"Sorry," Leonardo apologized, "I didn't have anything else clean to wear."

Nikki quickly broke the tension by giving Leonardo a quick peck on the cheek and pat on the back. "Try not to get caught doing something stupid," she warned the young boy as she watched him walk off until he piled into the back of a rental car. She nervously tugged at her outfit when Dean turned to face her again.

"I'm not going to kill him, you know."

"Of course not," she mumbled. "I'm not worried about that. I'm just worried that someone will see you two together."

Dean had thought of this concept the entire time he drove out to get the young boy. While he had his doubts of anyone becoming suspicious enough to snap a picture or ask a question, having some random person reveal the family affair to the entire world was on the list of things Dean never wanted to have happen. But, he still had a form of faith in his back pocket. Maybe people would respect their space.

"We can deal with whatever comes later. Leo-"

"Leonardo," Nikki established.

"Leonardo...he just wants to get some ice cream or something. It'll be fine, Nicole."

Once again, Nikki wanted to correct him and force him to call her by her nickname. He was the only person besides her mother who still referred to her by her full name, and it made her stomach churn. It reminded her of their relationship and then more recently in their sexual encounter.

Nikki's thoughts garnered her a moment of getting lost in the man's ravishing eyes, per usual, but she managed to pull herself out before she got too deep into the stare. "Be careful today," she pleaded.

"I will be. We'll be back in a few hours, I promise."

With that, Nikki allowed the man to drive off with her son riding shotgun. She attempted to calm whatever worry filled her chest, but alas it was emptying from her heart into her stomach. Releasing a sigh as the car disappeared from her eyesight, Nikki retreated back to her abode and locked the door.

Dean, on the other hand, held his hands gripped tightly around the steering wheel. The sun was shining bright against the buildings they drove past, beating down the bystanders with its radiation. He kept his eyes locked on the road so he wouldn't doze too far off course, making sure to every-so-often check in on the young boy seated to his right. Despite the fact that the further away they escaped the longer it would be before he sees Nikki, he couldn't continue. He wanted to see Nikki for his heart's sake, but his mind was a stubborn one. There was nothing that he wanted that would get past it. Even if the only thing he wanted was Nikki.

Staring at the moving objects surrounding them intently, Leonardo couldn't keep his focus on anything. He had grown close enough to Dean over the previous weeks that he didn't feel uncomfortable sitting in his car without speaking, although he was beginning to feel agitated that no words were being spoken. Clearing his throat, he coughed up a few words. "How are you?"

Dean smiled to himself. "I'm great, kid. How about you?"

"I'm fine," he said with a small shrug. "Mom has been stressed lately."

"Yeah?" The man rolled his shoulder uncomfortably.

Leonardo nodded in response. "I can always tell when something is bothering her because she smells like wine. And because keeps her hair up, out of her face."

Dean nodded with his teeth clenched against each other. Was she stressed because of him? Her hair was up when they spoke briefly by her door and again when he nearly bumped into her near catering the other day, but could it just be because of her title loss? She's an athlete, so those sorts of things cause trouble, and he was fully aware of that feeling.

"That sucks, bud." With a small sigh, Dean glanced down at the gas meter behind the steering wheel to find that the tank was running on empty. "Sorry, kid. It looks like we're gonna have to stop somewhere and fuel up."

"That's cool. Only if you get me a candy bar while you're inside."

Dean chuckled and made a turn into a small gas station off the road. Pulling the car up to a meter, he rolled down the windows and turned the car off. "I'll leave my phone here in case you need to call the police or something."

"Why would I need to call the cops?"

Giving his son a thoughtful glance, he shrugged. "You'll know when something bad happens." Dean locked the doors and entered the small station to pay for the gas and get his son a Hershey's bar, or something.

Leonardo watched while his dad disappeared behind the glass doors of the station and immediately pulled a coloring book out from the backpack he'd brought. He packed it full of games and activities that he figured would help him and his father bond, but seeing as though his father was occupied, he decided the time was perfect for a quick coloring session. Before any real art could begin, the phone Dean purposely left behind began to ring.

Peering over the median of the car to the object in the driver's seat, Leonardo looked at the lit screen that was filled with an up-close portrait of Renee. His mother warned him that Renee and Dean were in a relationship, but he didn't see why. He saw that Renee was pretty and he couldn't deny his father's charm - he believed that's the only true characteristic he'd inherited from him - but neither of those things added up to a real relationship in his opinion.

Leonardo glanced up at the glass doors as they opened, but was disappointed to see that it wasn't Dean exiting the building. The phone continued to ring and vibrate, causing the young boy's body to fill to the brink with anxiety. Eventually, caving in, the boy yanked his seatbelt aside and reached across the median to take the phone into his grasp.

"Hello?" he greeted with his most friendly of voices.

Renee, who sat scandalously nude in her soaking bathtub, raised her eyebrows at the oddly young voice. "Who is this?"

"This is Leonardo," he replied, as if it was an obvious answer.

The blonde suddenly felt violated, as if the boy was standing in front of her watching her bathe. Shivers crept up her spine and she sat up straight, covering herself in the bubbles. "Leonardo...as in, Nikki Bella's son, Leonardo? What are you doing with Dean's phone?"

"We're hanging out. But, he's a little busy right now so I can leave a message for him."

Renee's cheeks grew red with fury. What was he doing with Nikki Bella's son? And why had she known nothing about it? Clearing her throat to alleviate some of the building pressure, Renee forced a cheerful voice. "That would be great! Why don't you tell him that his girlfriend called and is missing him, dearly? And I can't wait for him to return so we can chat."

Leonardo, who was wise, but not that wise, had no recollection of the sarcasm in her words. "Alright! Bye!" Pressing the small red "end call" button, Leonardo tossed his father's phone back into the driver's seat just in time as the man walked through the glass doors of the gas station with a Hershey's bar in hand.

Having seen the boy toss his phone, Dean dropped the candy bar through the window and questioned his actions. "Who was that?"

"Your girlfriend," he stated simply.

The panic immediately rose in Dean's throat. "Renee?"

"Yep," he replied. "She said she can't wait to see you. Can you hurry up? I really want that ice cream!"

Despite the unhealthy request, Dean pumped the gas mindlessly as the only thing he could think about had legs for days and a temper almost as short as her hair. And, one more thing.

How fast she would be to kill him.

* * *

 **A/N: There's another chapter! It's been a while, but I hope it was worth the wait! :)**

 **Thank you everyone who read/reviewed the previous chapter! You guys rock. Let's see if we can keep the energy going? Just kidding, if you guys are anything near as exhausted as I am, then I doubt you have any energy at all. Still, thank you!**

 **With love. :)**


	17. Liar, Liar

_Shit._

Dean's car screeched into the driveway of his and Renee's Las Vegas home, only to find that her car was gone. And as soon as he entered the humble abode, many of her belongings were nowhere to be found as well. The sight made his heart calm to a steady beat for the first time in hours as he sped his way above speed limits and the law just to find an empty home.

He wouldn't admit this to any soul, but it made him feel less crazy to see that Renee had left. He knew she would eventually cave in and reach out to him – his effort having already been made with three straight-to-voicemail calls, two deeply personal messages, and a dozen errored texts. And when she did come around he would have to conjure up a story to explain why Nikki Bella's son answered his phone.

It was quite a strange concept: Dean marries Nikki in a scandalous Vegas wedding, only to have it annulled weeks later. Nikki becomes pregnant with Dean's baby, keeps it a secret from everyone except for her immediate family and her nanny for ten years. Meanwhile Nikki and Dean somehow manage to fall into the same career, working for the same company, all the while maintaining tight-lipped about their romantic relationship. Eventually Nikki comes around and exposes her dirty little secret to the world, shocking everyone, especially Dean, and then the two have to fight to keep the details of their past hidden. The story made Dean shiver. Drama never suited him well.

Dean fell onto his couch and kicked his feet onto the glass coffee table Renee handpicked for the living room. He could hear her voice in the back of his head, "Don't put your feet up there you pig." She meant well, but she was a pain in his sore ass.

How he would get Renee to believe any story he came up with was a mystery. He wasn't even sure that it was worth trying.

* * *

 **October 12th, 2015**

"You're kidding me, right?"

He was really beginning to wonder why he ever thought it was worth trying. "I'm doing no such thing."

Renee scoffed and dropped down onto a metal chair. The arenas always seemed to have an abundance of them went they weren't being used to strike human beings. "You were babysitting Nikki's son. For no reason other than being a good citizen?"

Dean's insides were screaming. It was the best he could come up with, having procrastinated the task of preparing for their encounter for the three weeks she'd avoided him.

"What else would explain why he was in a car with me, Renee?"

The blonde sighed and shook her head. "I…I guess I don't know what I expected you to say."

"He's ten years old, Renee. I wasn't just spending time with a ten year old for no reason."

"Maybe I thought…oh, never mind."

Dean raised his eyebrows and urged her to continue. "Go on. Say what's on your mind. It can't be like you've forgotten how to talk. It's only been three weeks since we've last spoken."

Renee refrained from chastising him for being critical of her. The audacity of him to pull a stunt like he did and then turn around and cast any sort of blame or guilt onto her was unspeakable. Which is part of the reason why she couldn't find the strength to speak to him. "Maybe I thought that you were cheating on me with Nikki."

Her words did nothing to Dean's already damaged psyche. And it wasn't until that moment that he realized how genuine of a liar he had become. "You would honestly think that I would cheat on you with someone else that I work with, and spend a day with that person's son? And that that person's son wouldn't spill the beans whenever he was on camera? Nikki's a fucking Total Diva. There are always cameras around that woman. Where would I even get through to her?"

The answer was simple: he just had to sneak out of his hotel room in the middle of the night and knock on her door for a late conversation. Or, hell, just wait until the show isn't being recorded.

Feeling like the world's biggest idiot, Renee bit her tongue and closed her eyes. She wasn't one to cry under most circumstances but that man could make her feel like any emotion she'd ever felt was completely absurd. One minute she felt broken by lies and tormented by his ignorance and then the next she felt insane for questioning him. It was a cycle of stupidity that she never managed to break.

"I'm sorry, Dean. I didn't mean to make you feel bad for accusing you. I just…the past few weeks haven't been the easiest and I felt so lost…"

"It's okay," he assured her. Something about forgiving her when she didn't have anything to necessarily feel bad for made the tiny ounce of guilt in his spine radiate until it was present in his chest. "I'm going to go warm up before my match tonight. You should probably go see someone about any interviews or anything too."

Renee nodded and stood up. "What does this mean for us? Are we alright?"

Something deep down in the pit of his stomach was clawing its way to his brain, urging him not to accept her back into his life. Sure, she hadn't done anything wrong and there was no reason for them to break up unless it's considered that he's lied to her about a past marriage, a son, the fact that he had sex with his ex-wife and mother of his son, and every other mistruth in between…but he still couldn't see himself happy with her.

"Of course," he lied. Again, "we're absolutely perfect."

* * *

 **December 27th, 2015**

Nikki stared at her cellphone as it sat on the edge of her bed. Her hair was thrown up in a messy bun and her spine covered in small bumps after the sweat from her workout hit the chill of conditioned air in her bedroom.

Everything between her and Dean had halted to co-parenting and they were doing well so far. Renee had no suspicions and nobody else did for that matter, so as far as they were concerned the two of them were nearly out of the woods. And it was just in time, too. Nikki and Brie were planning a New Year's Eve party at Nikki's house, and Leonardo had been begging his mother for weeks to invite his father.

Nikki couldn't lie to herself, she would love nothing more than to see Dean at her party. But she knew that if he did come, it wouldn't be a shock to see Renee linked to his arm. And no matter how many times she went over the concept of him being allowed to see whomever he pleased, especially considering she told him not to leave Renee when he suggested that he was done with her. So, while she acquiesced when Leonardo begged, she secretly abhorred the idea of seeing her ex-husband in such a romantic setting with another woman.

And so she stood there, staring at her phone with the clamor of Nina's vacuum distracting her from her thoughts, putting off the act of dialing Dean's number and asking him to attend her party.

She felt so young and vulnerable alone in her bedroom with the image of Dean waltzing into her party with another woman's fingers laced with his. She was in her thirties and her son would be a teenager himself in a few years; being foolish was an act she needed to forsake.

She pictured Dean kissing Renee as the clock strikes midnight and her skin began to crawl. She couldn't help but replace Renee's figure with her own and suddenly her hands felt warm as they traced his rough skin in her mind. And her legs would fall under her weight but he would support her with his brave hands, lifting her up into his strength. Eventually they would part, but as everyone faded from the soiree they would reunite in the very bedroom she stood in, and pick up where they paused. Her body would wrap around his and she would lose all sense of time and space just as she'd done only a few months prior at the arena after she lost her title.

The smell of his breath was already lingering around her crowded mind, erasing all the images and thoughts she was having. A sharp breath reminded her that she was standing alone in her bedroom and her eyes were still locked on her phone.

Nikki couldn't stop herself from grabbing the small device with shaky fingers. She unlocked her phone and quickly called Dean's number without any hesitation. Surprisingly, it only rang three times before his familiar voice sounded from the other end.

"Nikki? Was I supposed to see Leo – uh, Leonardo – today?" Dean sat up, groggy from another late night. His deep-thinking induced insomnia had gotten the best of him again.

"No," she replied before finally sitting on her bed. "You're not scheduled until after the new year."

Dean rubbed his face and looked over at the empty space beside him. Renee had spent much of her time off with her family up in Canada, which made things a little easier on his guilty conscience. "Then, what's this about?"

"Am I bothering you?"

The worried tone in her voice sent a sharp pain to Dean's chest and his back straightened. "Oh, no." Clearing his voice after recognizing the concern in his own words, Dean shook his head despite her not being able to see him. "I've been up for hours," he lied.

Nikki forced a relieved smile. "Good," she stated under her heavy breath. "Well, I was just calling because, well…" she was having trouble spitting her words out. "Brie and I are throwing a little party for New Year's at my house and I was wondering if you wanted to come."

"You were?"

"Well, I mean, Leonardo was wondering if you were going to be there and so I figured that it wouldn't hurt for you to come."

Dean refrained from smiling through the phone and rolled out of his bed so that his feet were grazing the floor. "Don't you think it would be suspicious of me to attend a random party? Most people don't really see us as acquaintances."

"There's going to be multiple people from work there," she argued. "So, it wouldn't be like you are showing up for no reason. And there won't be any cameras there since the Total Divas' crew is out for the holiday, so nobody outside of the guests would know you were there."

She made valid points that at some point would have concerned Dean enough to prevent him from attending. No matter how much he yearned to just be next to that woman, his pride would always get the best of him. "It sounds safe."

Nikki's knuckled turned paper-white as they grasped the phone roughly. "Do you think you'll be able to make it?"

"If it's what the little squirt wants, then absolutely."

* * *

 **A/N: This update is...later than late. It crawled here. It was stuck at some stoplight for a long time. It had an important meeting? I don't know, you guys. Life got the best of me and there was barely enough time to think, let alone spill those thoughts into a chapter. I even rewrote this entire chapter in the last hour or so just because I owed it to every person who has remained loyal to this story to give you all some hope.**

 **I am trying to move this story further so it's up-to-date with reality, but since I haven't updated in so long it's requiring me to bend a little further. I hope that how everything turns out is just as satisfying as it would have been had I never taken such a long pause. Please forgive me!**

 **With love. :)**


	18. New Year's Eve - Part I

**December 31st, 2015**

 **7:15 p.m.**

"Nikki Bella...the star of the party!"

Nikki feigned an amused reaction by smiling with rosy cheeks and playfully shading her face with her hand. "Nattie, you animal." The Latina waltzed over to her blonde friend and pecked her cheek before stepping back and eyeing her outfit. "You look gorgeous, as always."

"Oh, please. I don't even know why I bother at this point. Especially when I come to your house! You always show me up," she teased. "And not to mention your devilishly good-looking son." Natalya bent down and planted a motherly kiss on Leonardo's head. The two hadn't always been close and the last time they spent any time alone together it was at SummerSlam and she ditched him when she became uncomfortable. Needless to say she needed to earn some brownie points. "What have you been up to lately, kid?"

Leonardo shrugged and adjusted the tie his mother forced him to wear. "Mainly listening to conspiracy talk shows on the radio at night before I go to bed and then spending my quiet evenings listening to my favorite Frank Sinatra records on repeat while I eat a fresh salad for dinner."

Both Natalya and Nikki stared bewildered at the ten year old. Where did he come up with this stuff?

Raising his eyebrows to the women, Leonardo explained himself. "I'm kidding." The ladies released the awkward tension by giggling through the silence. "I've been studying some wrestling."

"Really? It sounds like someone is already leaning towards a certain career path..."

Nikki swatted Natalya's arm and motioned towards the kitchen. "Do you mind checking in on Brie? I left her in charge of the snack preparations but I have this feeling that she's busier nurturing the roses on my counter."

"Sure thing," Natalya assured before stepping into the kitchen and leaving Nikki behind with the young boy.

Waiting until Natalya was out of sight, Nikki gently took hold of her son's shoulder and pulled him off behind the stairs. Kneeling down so the two were fairly close in height, Nikki made sure that nobody could see them talking. "Do you remember what we discussed earlier today?"

"You mean how I'm supposed to avoid talking about Dad?"

"How you are supposed to remember that the only people who know who your father is are you, me, aunt Brie, and him. And how if anybody were to find out, it would cause a lot of problems that wouldn't be easy to fix."

Leonardo nodded rapidly and gave his mother a comforting glance. "Don't worry, Mom. I'm not going to spill the beans about anything."

She trusted him - more than she trusted any other human - but she still had her worries. Besides, he would probably end up falling asleep before midnight when all the other guests become rowdy and she wouldn't need to concern herself with protecting him from people's drunk questions.

After their conversation ended Leonardo walked off into the living room where he planted himself on the couch and proceeded to watch a few classic wrestling matches with the likes of TJ, Cesaro, and a pack of NXT divas who Nikki only invited out of generosity. She figured that the more people she invited the less likely anyone would fidget about Dean's appearance.

The doorbell rang and Nikki's heart jumped. "I'll get it," she assured Brie who momentarily stepped out of the kitchen. "You go back and check on the snacks!"

Brie rolled her eyes. "There's only so much I can do by staring at a bowl of fruit, Nicole."

The woman ignored her sister's sarcastic comment and pried the front door open. It wasn't Dean, but it wasn't a disappointment. "Roman," she greeted with a cheerful smile. "It's wonderful to see you! I'm so glad that you could make it."

Roman walked in and eyed around. "Crowded," he commented.

"It is, isn't it?" Nikki glanced down at the bottle of wine he brought and wrapped her hands around it. "You really shouldn't have, Roman."

"I figured that since it was my first time seeing your lovely house, the least I could do was bring something to help celebrate the occasion. It's really nothing."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that. It's very kind of you." Checking behind him, she noticed the absence of his wife and daughter. "You didn't bring your family?"

Roman awkwardly crossed his arms. He opened his mouth as if to explain himself, but found no words were exiting his body. Eventually he conjured up enough momentum to speak but it wasn't easy to think of an excuse. "They couldn't make it. Work and other family matters, is all."

Nodding, Nikki didn't believe him. She'd spent enough time lying between her teeth to know when it was someone else's turn to pull a fast one. "Well, please enjoy the party. And let me know if you need anything."

The party moved forward for nearly an hour before any sign of Dean presented itself. It was just as Nikki was about give up on continuously checking her windows for headlights when one more set of bright beams busted through the curtains of her living room. After a minute of anticipation, the doorbell rang and Nikki didn't put up a fight when Brie shot her daggers and made her own way toward the door.

"Dean," Brie greeted with a bright smile. She didn't seem to have a vocal opinion about the man or his relationship to her sister, but she never had any resentment towards him. Glancing to his right, she noticed the familiar blonde standing off to the side with her hands clutching her leather jacket. "And, Renee! It's great that you two could make it."

Nikki, while doing her best not to peer around the corner and watch the encounter, allowed her ears to eavesdrop the greeting. And at the sound of Renee's dreaded name, her heart dropped into her stomach.

"Come on in, the party has barely started." It was a lie, but all hostesses were supposed to be generous liars.

Dean and Renee walked awkwardly into the party, greeting the various faces that jumped up to make their own presence known. Nikki wanted to run over to him and express the overwhelming joy she felt just to know that he was there in her house, but she bit down the urge and remained frozen on her couch.

After all, Renee would have multiple reasons to hate the ex-wife of her boyfriend if she witnessed that.

"Nikki," Brie spoke softly as if she were sharing secrets with her sister, "can I talk to you in the kitchen?"

Nikki glanced up from the couch and then across the room at Dean, who was conversing with his former tag partner, Roman, before bringing her eyes back to her sister. "Is there something wrong?"

"Nothing is _wrong_ per say. But, I do want to speak with you."

With a surrendering shrug, Nikki stood from the couch and followed her sister into the kitchen. Almost as if the entire group of people who were gathered around the center counter knew what was about to go down, the kitchen quickly emptied out until only the twins were left standing in the middle of the room with drowned-out music playing in the background from the living room.

Nikki raised her eyebrows and looked around the empty room. "I feel like you're going to yell at me."

"You invited Dean?"

"Of course I invited him. We work together and Leonardo wanted him here."

"And those are the only reasons he's standing out in your living room tonight?"

Nikki's eyebrows dropped in confusion and she crossed her arms. She could tell where her sister was planning on taking this conversation, but she couldn't understand why she was suddenly so interested in involving herself in her life. "Do you have something you'd like to say to me?"

"It's just interesting to me," Brie began, "that you stayed away from that man for ten years, even when you two ended up working for the same company, but you're suddenly becoming so involved in each other's lives."

Nikki stood, frustrated. "You know why we're so involved with each other." She quickly peered over her shoulder to make sure that nobody was listening in on their ordeal. "We have a common interest," she explained in a hushed tone.

"A common interest?"

"You're not going to make me say it aloud, are you?"

Brie simply shrugged. "It depends on what that interest is. We both know what it should be, but I'm starting to think that whatever it is isn't an innocent ten year old secret."

"Stop it," Nikki demanded as she hurried over, closing the large gap between her and her sister. "You can't talk about that tonight."

"You don't honestly believe that it wasn't going to come up at some point." Brie, about to finish her thoughts, was interrupted by an abrupt entrance into the kitchen.

"I'm sorry... I'm not interrupting something important, am I?"

Brie and Nikki both glanced to the head of the kitchen, where a dumbfounded Renee stood aloof. Of course the sight made Nikki's blood boil; however, she stood in silence to protect her image. She couldn't start throwing things just yet.

"I can leave," Renee assured the girls and motioned for the door.

"No, that's alright. We were just talking," Brie lied. "Can we help you with something?"

The blonde shook her head humbly and added a sweet chuckle. "I was just going to thank Nikki for the invite tonight and see if we could catch up."

Nikki forced herself to relax and wear a sweet smile. Why was it so hard? Renee and Dean had been together for months and Nikki never seemed to bother, but recently she'd been preventing herself from bloodying up the woman. "It's no problem," she spoke.

Brie excused herself before exiting the room, leaving Renee and Nikki to accompany an empty room with an unbearable silence. Nikki was fully aware of her feelings towards the blonde, but Renee had no understanding of their animosity aside from the tense interview the two had months prior.

"So," Renee spoke up, "I love your house. Did you decorate the place yourself?"

Nikki hated small talk, but she went along with the charade. "Most of it, yes. One of my close friends is an interior decorator so she helped me a lot."

"Does Leonardo like living here?"

After a second of hesitation, Nikki spoke through clenched teeth. "Yes."

Renee could sense how unwelcome she was, but there wasn't much she could do. Dean insisted on attending the party, and despite the number of times she tried to convince him that it was a bad idea, he continued to pressure her with the argument that Leonardo had desperately wanted to see one of his favorite wrestlers at his house. As if all the "babysitting" Dean did for the kid wasn't enough.

 **9:45 p.m.**

Nikki couldn't remember how her awkward encounter with Renee ended, but the next thing she knew she was downing a large glass of wine and watching an old Hart Family wrestling match on her flat screen television. People were growing slightly rowdier by the minute and the bottle of wine Roman brought had already been emptied. Nikki prided herself in hosting wonderful soirees, but she was only beginning to feel concern for the lack of responsibility being displayed amongst her guests.

From around the corner Nikki caught a glance of her son showing Dean some of his favorite action figures that he'd collected over the years. It was a beautiful sight for her to lay her eyes on. They were sitting comfortably on her clean tile floors tossing random plastic wrestling toys back and forth at each other, and with every motion they made, Nikki's heart swelled.

She completely lost focus on the party, and perhaps it was the intensity of the wine but she couldn't remember where she was. All she could see was the man she once fell deeply, madly in love with being an amazing father to their son. And no matter how angry Brie was at her for risking their reputations and sanity by inviting him to her house, Nikki couldn't feel anything but pure bliss.

Next thing she knew, a loving smile spread across her face and she couldn't see through her drunken haze that Natalya had caught a glimpse of the toothy grin.

"He's a lovely kid, Nicole."

Nikki shook her head. "Oh, trust me, I know." The smile dropped and she looked over at her friend with confusion. "What did you say, again?"

Natalya chuckled and playfully rested a hand on the woman's arm. "You're drunk, aren't you?"

"Drunk?" The brunette looked down at the empty wine glass in her hands and began to laugh uncontrollably. She'd forgotten the last time she'd gotten wasted, especially off of something as ridiculous as wine.

"I think you should lay off the drinks for a while, sweetheart."

Nikki nodded at her friend and pursed her lips. "You're probably right."

"Look at what I found!"

Everyone in the room quickly shot their eyes up at the other Bella Twin as she walked in with her hands full of two large bottles. Of course, per New Year's tradition, she'd found the champagne.

"We'll save these for the countdown, but I figured I would give everyone a little something to look forward to!" Brie smiled brightly before waltzing back to the kitchen. She, herself, had saved the act of getting even tipsy for her midnight celebration to prevent embarrassing herself. Everyone knew how she acted when alcohol was poured down her veins.

"Speaking of midnight," a cheeky Natalya chimed in, "does everyone have their midnight kiss?"

Leonardo stood up and made his way into the living room. "If it's all the same to everyone else, I think I'll hit the sack before the countdown begins."

"That sounds very responsible," Natalya said with an extra bright smile.

"I think we all know who TJ's kiss is going to be." Everyone peered over at the usually quiet Emma, who was sitting comfortably on her boyfriend, Zack Ryder. "Cesaro, of course."

Natalya looked over at her husband, who laughed at the comment. "It better not be him," she warned.

"Okay, Nattie. I think you're the one who needs to lay off the drinks."

"Yeah," TJ spoke up. "You know how you get after one-too-many."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Natalya asked with a depressed expression drowning her face.

Nikki shook her head and looked up at the blonde. "You just get a little...excessive when you're drunk."

The woman sank down onto the couch with a pout and crossed her arms over her chest. The image brought a laugh to everyone and a confused expression to Brie's face as she re-entered the room. "What are we laughing about?"

"Oh, nothing." Emma took another sip from her cup. "Who are you going to kiss at midnight?"

Brie shook her head and tucked a strand of hair nervously behind her ear. "My champagne," she joked.

"I know who I'm going to kiss."

It all happened in slow motion. Nikki heard the familiar voice and looked over at the blonde as she placed a kiss on her boyfriend's cheek. His face grew slightly red from embarrassment: he doesn't normally show public affection. Her heart leapt to her throat as if it wanted to say something, but no words escaped her parted lips.

Although it was difficult, Nikki could've handled Renee and Dean's relationship earlier because up until that moment she'd never seen them do more than speak to one another. But watching her lips crash against his skin only made her nightmares something of painful reality. They were _genuinely_ real and any feelings she harbored for her ex-husband were merely roadblocks.

The temperature in the room grew too warm for her skin to handle and she needed to leave. Without a single word of explanation, the woman stood off the couch and left her empty wine glass behind. She hurried out of the room and up the stairs so she could escape into her room. And as soon as her feet hit the soft carpet in her bedroom, she felt a rush of cool air wash over her broken body.

Her room was as dark as a starless night in the country, but she didn't mind. She closed the door and felt her way to her bed before collapsing on the plush mattress. And without wrapping herself in any blankets or sheets, Nikki closed her eyes and fell into an alcohol-induced slumber.

* * *

 **A/N: DO NOT WORRY! THIS IS SIMPLY THE FIRST PART OF THE NEW YEAR'S EVE PARTY! PART TWO WILL BE POSTED SOON!**

 **I hope that everyone is doing splendid! If you have the time, please check out my newest one-shot titled "Bad Intentions". The pairing is Eva/Randy, which I realize is an unpopular and strange couple to many, but I find them to be oddly cute together. If you could read the quick story and leave a review, it would mean a lot!**

 **As always, I hope that this chapter was worth the wait!**

 **With love. :)**


	19. New Year's Eve - Part II

**December 31st, 2015**

 **11:05 p.m.**

Dean's mind was seemingly wandering down a winding path as he stared with a blank expression off into the direction of his son. Leonardo was barely awake; his eyelids were drooping and all he could see were the thick eyelashes that framed his intensely blue irises resting on his tired face. The image brought a sincere smirk to Dean's mouth, but he shoved it away as soon as Brie planted herself next to him.

Quietly, she spoke to him while gluing her eyes to her drowsy nephew. "He's going to fall asleep soon."

"I can tell," he commented.

Brie nodded. "Have you seen Nicole?"

It was only the _thousandth_ time he'd heard that name muttered in the previous hour or so that the woman had been gone and just as if it were the first time, his heart stopped beating for a millisecond. "Not since she ran off."

"She's passed out in her room," Brie offered.

"If that's the case then why did you ask?"

"I don't know," she said with a slight shrug. "Maybe I thought you would've searched the house before you found her."

Dean's eyes removed themselves from the young boy and became cemented on the brunette woman next to him. "Is there something I should know?"

"Nothing that hasn't been sitting right under your nose since you two met up a few months back." Brie finally turned until her eyes were locked on Dean's. It was amazing to her, how much he resembled Leonardo. "If you're too blind to see it then I'm worried for your eyesight."

"There's nothing wrong with my eyesight, thank you."

"Then what the hell are you doing here with," she paused to check if Renee was still off in the corner with Natalya before continuing in a much quieter voice, "Renee? Didn't you see how seeing you two together made Nikki feel?"

"Everybody knows who I'm dating. It wasn't like I could just show up to a party without my girlfriend; it would look bad."

Brie rolled her eyes in frustration. "Screw looks. Dean, she's _in love_ with you."

Her words caught his tongue in a twist. He took a minute to contemplate his own rebuttal as if it would make a difference. "How do you know that?"

The brunette shook her head carefully so she wouldn't mess up the tidy up-do she'd created earlier that evening before guests arrived. "Like I said - it's been sitting under your nose for months. And if you can't see it then you should probably look into getting glasses or something because it's as clear as day." Her voice, if it could, got even quieter to ensure that not even the strongest ears could catch what she was saying unless they were seated right next to her and her former brother-in-law. "I know my sister a lot better than most people could imagine and I saw the way she changed after she found out she was pregnant. None of us knew who had done that to her and we couldn't even begin to understand why she wouldn't tell us."

"Get to the point," Dean demanded.

Resisting the urge to slap him, Brie gritted her teeth before forcing herself to relax. "I don't know how she could, but Nikki loves you. Trust me on it."

She got up and walked away, leaving Dean with an unconvincing, unaffected expression on his face. _She loves me_. It was the only thought running through his mind. And it was the only thought even when Renee sent him a sensual glance after Brie brought out more wine, ensuring that nobody got thirsty as they waited for the countdown to midnight. Dean held his breath and watched as everyone either grabbed a dance partner or poured themselves another glass of poison. His brain rattled against the beat of the lame song that Brie put on and he returned his eyes to his son, who had already begun to drift off.

Without hesitation, Dean scooped the ten-year-old up and excused himself from the party.

"Where are you going?" Renee asked as she stumbled over to him with two drunk, left feet.

"I'm taking him to his room."

The blonde, who normally couldn't think straight under alcohol induced hysteria, burrowed her eyebrows. "How do you know where to take him?"

Dean, fully aware that she wouldn't remember anything he told her in the morning, shook his head. "He showed me one time when I came to sign a few posters." Not a complete lie, considering he'd actually signed a few posters, but also not a total truth, considering...well, considering he was the kid's father.

Renee nodded and drunkenly waltzed over to the couch where she slouched down next to Tyson. She began speaking gibberish as Dean mindlessly took his son to his room where he placed him on the bed and pulled the blanket up to his chest. Just as he was beginning to leave, the boy mumbled quietly to himself.

"Leo?" Dean turned back to the boy, who kept his eyes closed. "You awake?"

"Daddy..." Leonardo's voice was groggy and soft. He was half asleep, so nothing was resonating in his mind as far as vocalization was concerned. "Say goodnight to me," he mumbled.

Dean hesitated to speak or move. This wasn't an area of expertise for him: parenting was Nikki's job. He could sign some autographs and tell stories about his time on the road, no matter how derogatory, but even simple father-son-bonding activities felt off-limits. Leonardo had never even _really_ referred to Dean as his father. How could he have a true connection with someone he'd only known for a handful of months?

With a silent gulp, the man walked back over to his son and sat down on the bed next to his body. "It's almost 2016, bud. Do you know what that means?"

"What does it mean?"

"It means that soon, we'll have known each other for an entire year."

Leonardo smiled through his exhaustion. "We're best friends, right, Dad?"

A chuckle parted the man's lips through a contagious smile. "Of course we are, kid. We're the best of friends."

"That's good." Leonardo reached out through the darkness and placed a hand on his father's arm. "I love you, Dad."

It felt like bricks were plummeting against his chest at a million miles an hour. Everybody loves him tonight, apparently. What was he supposed to say? He couldn't lie to his son - no matter what that lie would be. Dean had never been one to openly expose his emotions or feelings or any hidden secrets, ever.

This isn't to say that Dean _doesn't_ love his son. He believed that there was a part of him that did; but, how was he supposed to know? Just as he was about to respond - with who knows what of an answer - something hit him in his chest. Images of his wedding night, way back when he and Nikki barely made it out of Las Vegas traffic without a scratch, flashed through his mind and his heart began to race. What was that feeling?

The words poured out of his lips. "I love you too."

Leonardo smiled and rolled over so his back was to his father, who hesitated before jumping to his feet. There was no plan, just motivation. He hurried out of the room, making sure to carefully close the boy's door, and searched the second floor. Where was Nikki?

Pictures of Nikki and Leonardo lined the hall and each one brought Dean's heartbeat up another notch. Those were photos of his _family._ The family he'd had to live without for ten years... The family that he could no longer shove down into his past.

Eventually Dean stopped at a closed door at the end of the hall. He wasn't sure, but he had the oddest conviction that it was Nikki's bedroom, so he opened the door without knocking. The darkness was almost too deep to bear, that is if it weren't for the moonlight reflecting off his ex-wife's face as she looked out her window from a $300 chair across the floor. She didn't look back to see who it was, didn't even ask, but she somehow knew.

"Go back to the party, Dean."

Dean shook his head and walked across the threshold until his body was immersed in the darkness. He closed the door behind him quietly and took a deep breath. "I'm tired of doing whatever you tell me to."

Nikki turned back to him without standing. The moonlight was shining onto his face, illuminating the dimple in his chin and the blueness of his eyes. "What are you talking about?"

"You always tell me what to do. You think that just because our past is intertwined and you're the one who raised our son that you get to call the shots."

"I raised our son because _you_ left."

"And had I known that you were pregnant, I wouldn't have."

Nikki scoffed and looked back out the window. Her eyes watched the wind carry the net of an old basketball hoop in the night. "Come here," she ordered. He picked up his feet and walked over to her, making sure to peer out the window and try to catch the line of her eyes. "You see that old hoop? I've been trying to teach Leonardo how to shoot a basket but he's made zero progress. It's been months...maybe even a year." She paused to soak in a dramatic breath. "I'm sporty and fun but he's incapable of learning these things from me because the boys at his school were all taught how to play and swing and shoot by their fathers."

"Nikki..."

"Can you honestly tell me that you would even be able to be there for him if you were always on the road for wrestling?"

"You're on the road all the time! And you know me - I would've done everything I could to be here for him whenever he needed me."

"Just like you were here for me when I needed you?" Nikki shot up to her feet by this point. Her body was tired but her mind couldn't slow down. The wine only managed to keep her lips sealed for long enough for her brain to build up thoughts and truths that she otherwise would never have spoken. "I needed you to love me and take care of me like the husband you said you were. But as soon as you got scared, you jumped ship."

"I didn't know what else to do," he interjected.

"Stay," she said. "You could've stayed. You were supposed to stay. I _wish_ you would've stayed."

Dean just stared at her. Words felt too impersonal for the moment they were sharing. Even through every argument about his betrayal, she never once stated that she had wished he never left. He'd always assumed that his decision was the best for both of them. Their annulment was granted and they were able to move forward with their lives. Yes, their lives were surprisingly glued together forever, but at the time it felt right and Nikki proved that she was more than capable of raising their son by herself. So, to think that Nikki had always wanted him to be there...it killed him.

The silence brought tears to Nikki's eyes. They were distancing themselves further and further but they didn't want that. They wanted to be happy and blissful and full of life like they were in Vegas, but they didn't even look the same.

"Do you love me?"

Nikki looked up at Dean with curiosity. "What?"

"There has to be more to us than whatever we're being right now, I know it. And, I also know that you've been avoiding this talk since you told me about Leonardo but we're not going anywhere until we have it."

"Dean, you're with Renee."

"And?" Dean scoffed before throwing his hands in the air. "Look around, Nicole! I'm here at _your_ party! My girlfriend is drunk off her ass downstairs and I came up here to find you."

Nikki shook her head. "You shouldn't have."

"But you knew that I would. That's how you knew it would be me at your door and why you dressed as nicely as you did-"

"I dress like this for every special occasion."

"But you invited me for this one." Dean reached out and placed a hand gently against her cheek. "You love me."

"Don't," she begged and squirmed from his hand.

"You love me, admit it."

"No!"

"Just admit it, dammit!"

"I love you!" She was yelling, but nobody outside of the room heard her over the music that was playing downstairs. "Is that what you wanted to hear? I'm in love with you, alright? I've been in love with you since you were sitting next to me in that hotel lobby, ten years ago. I put it away for years and then you started working with me and it all came rushing back! And then you started dating Renee and I had to tell you about Leonardo and then we kissed-"

"I love you too," he interrupted her.

"And now here we are..." His words didn't resonate in her mind until she'd finished her own thought. Her cheeks grew warm and her eyes slightly watered. "You...you love me..."

"Of course I love you, Nikki. You don't think I haven't regretted my decision to leave you every day since I left? I packed and unpacked my bags six times that day, and every night before I go to sleep I imagine what would have happened if I had just shoved the suitcase back in the closet and gone back to bed." He admired the curves of her face in the dark before continuing. "What would have happened if I had been there for the birth of my son? You don't think I would have done anything to have been there for that?"

"It's too late for us."

"Don't say that," he demanded. "Don't ever say that."

"It's the truth, Dean. What are you going to do - leave Renee? Rock the world and tell them that we have a son together? Possibly ruin our careers just to be together?"

"We're a family," he explained. "I just told my son, for the first time, that I love him. I can't leave him after that."

The image of Dean telling Leonardo that he loved him played repeatedly through the woman's mind. Her heart cooed at the thought. Her heart danced to the sound of those words spilling from his mouth.

"You told him that you loved him?"

"It took me a second...but then I looked at him and I saw you. And I felt everything that I felt when I met you." His blue eyes smiled down at his former wife and for the first time since they'd known each other, a tear slipped from one. "I've never loved another human being more than I love you and Leo."

"Leonardo," she corrected.

A hearty laugh followed her insane need to control every detail, and Nikki reflected the joy in his voice. The two former spouses leaned on each other's laughter as they stood in the mere light of the moon. They were finally releasing the tension that had built for ten years.

Once the laughing subsided, they listened as the music from downstairs came to a halt and shouting ensued: the countdown to midnight had begun.

"We should probably go back," Nikki insisted.

Dean shook his head. "I don't want to be anywhere else but here."

In the distance, the two listened as faded shouting continued. _5...4...3...2...1... Happy New Year!_

With gleaming smile, Nikki looked up at Dean's face. They had moved cautiously close to one another with each number that was shouted and she could barely see his features now that her body was covering the moonlight. "Happy New Year," she whispered.

"Happy New Year," he repeated.

Slowly, as if to savor every moment, they leaned in.

And they created fireworks of their own.

* * *

 **A/N: And this concludes the two part special! I hope it was satisfying! The next chapter, as I've decided, will be the FINAL CHAPTER of Stuck With You! Please keep an eye out for it. :)**

 **As always, this was late but still a pleasure. Please check out my newest story, Without a Hitch. The main couple is Roman and Brie, and it involves some other WWE characters, although it is set in au (alternate universe). Let me know your thoughts!**

 **With love. :)**


	20. Stuck Forever

**August 8th, 2019**

It was their anniversary. Their _third_ anniversary. Their third anniversary that everybody claimed would never happen.

But, here it was. Three years later and they were still stuck. The only difference was that they glued themselves together intentionally.

And they had the paperwork to prove it.

Nikki sat on the front porch of her brand new house, her newborn son resting peacefully in her arms. She could barely see the dazzling diamond ring behind Phillip's infant head, but the feeling of it between her fingers was enough to bring a smile to her face. After placing a small kiss on the soft forehead of her son, Nikki looked up to see Leonardo, now fourteen years of age, chasing his two-year-old sister through the freshly mowed grass. It was a sight to ease her mind.

A smile brighter than the sun bedazzled Nikki's motherly cheeks. Fourteen years and three children later, Nikki could finally say that her relationship with her husband was solid. How did they make it that far?

Of course, there was the Renee problem. After the New Year's party, Renee suspected something was happening between Nikki and Dean. And one day, after RAW, her suspicions were confirmed when she walked in on them kissing in Dean's locker room. Needless to say, the love affair, along with their secret marriage and son, was exposed on the blonde's wildfire blog.

The world of wrestling and entertainment was having a blast with the news. The juicy details were debated online and on talk shows. Renee ended up writing a book about her experiences with a man who was secretly in love with his ex-wife, whom he shared a child with, and received numerous offers to turn it into a movie. The jury is still out on that one.

Tensions were running high until Nikki discovered she was pregnant, this time with a beautiful baby girl, and she left wrestling behind. Dean and Nikki announced their engagement, and were married two months before she gave birth. Dean, of course, was the happiest of the bunch; he finally got to be there for the birth of his sweet Rose.

And then came the summer of 2018, where Nikki fell pregnant after her sister's wedding...to Roman Reigns. It turned out that Roman's wife and daughter weren't tied up with other familial responsibilities, preventing them from attending Nikki's party on New Year's, 2015. They had left him weeks prior, and two months later, Roman was a single man.

Well...sort of. Apparently, while Nikki and Dean made up in her bedroom and the clock struck midnight, Brie and Roman found themselves locked in a bathroom to ring in the New Year. A few months later they revealed their relationship and then shortly after their wedding, Brie announced a pregnancy of her own. And the rest is what they call history.

Recounting all the events that occurred brought Nikki's heart rate up. She never imagined that Dean would return her secret affections that she'd managed to hide from everybody but her sister and when he did, she could only look ahead. Despite all the messy connections that filled their past, Nikki and Dean couldn't look back. That was where mistakes were made.

And their love for each other was too powerful to be remembered as a mistake.

"Staring at the sun is bad for your eyes."

Nikki glanced up at Dean with an emotional smile. "You're back," she muttered quietly so she wouldn't wake the sleeping infant. Her attempts, of course, were ruined by a squealing Rose who had seen her father's return out of the corner of her eye.

The reunion was sweet and eventually all the kids were tucked away into their rooms and the celebratory couple were locked in theirs.

Glancing over at the clock, Dean chuckled. "That last round of celebrations exceeded our anniversary."

"Damn...that was our best one yet, too." Nikki pulled herself up with a chuckle and kissed her husband sweetly. "There's always next year to try and get it right."

"I promise I'll be back in town on time next year."

Nikki rested her head on Dean's chest. "You said that last year."

"Hey..." Dean pulled his wife's chin up so they were looking at each other eye-to-eye. "You know that I love you, right? You and this family?"

"Of course I do. And we love you."

"Then listen to me when I say this: one day, I'm not going to be wrestling anymore. I'll have to give them my belt back and I'll stick my boots in the attic or something. And on that day, I'm not going to go out with my friends for drinks or mope about my career being over. I'm going to get my ass on a plane and come home to you, just like I do after every show."

"Why would you do that?"

"Because you're everything I've ever wanted and everything I've ever needed. That hasn't changed and it never will."

His words brought a smile to the woman's lips. "You've become the corniest man on planet earth ever since you became a father."

Dean chuckled and grabbed his wife's ass through the sheets, in typical Dean fashion. "I love you too."

* * *

 **A/N: This was very short, but also very satisfying to write. Finally, Dean and Nikki get a happy ending. :') Isn't that what we all always wanted for them from the beginning?**

 **For some reason the site isn't loading any new reviews...so if you left a review on the last chapter, thanks! Hopefully the website will fix whatever glitch this is and I will be able to see what you all said.**

 **Thank you...thank you, thank you, thank you! Without every reader and every review...this story would've have happened. This is one of my favorites...if not my number one. And, I owe every bit of gratitude to all of you! You guys inspire me and keep me writing. It's for you and because of you that I have the courage to put new material out there. So, thank you. Thank you very much.**

 **Nikki and Dean have to be one of my favorite couples to write, so if there is enough requests to see them in another story, I would be more than happy to conjure something up.**

 **As always, let me know what your thoughts on this chapter - and the whole story, for that matter - are! Feedback is very important!**

 **Thanks for reading 'Stuck With You' and please feel free to come back here and reminisce on old chapters.**

 **With love. :)**


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